


Settling Down

by penpet



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Comics), Grimm (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Warning: Spoiler Alert for Season 9/10 of the comics, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-04-07 15:00:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 30,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4267695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penpet/pseuds/penpet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The storyline follows the comics till the end of Season 9. Giles has been dead for about 5-6 months, Angel has gone to find a way to bring him back to live and the gang has settled down in San Francisco. Buffy and Kennedy have opened a gym, Dawn and Xander are still a couple. Spike and Buffy are still not sure what to do about each other...<br/>It starts out slow but the story is already pretty much finished (in my head).<br/>Oh, and *soon* I will borrow some characters from the show "Grimm" but don't go with the storyline - any similarity to it is purely coincidental. ;)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, please be gentle with the feedback - this is my first fanfiction and English isn't my mother tongue. It just feels better to write a Buffy-story in English because I've watched the show in English (the German synchronization is too awful to bear)...  
> I've got this idea that hopefully will turn out into a larger story about Willow and Giles but he isn't even alive yet. Also, it starts out General but I'll probably have to change the rating.  
> I hope you enjoy, though!
> 
> PS: If anyone wants to beta-read, feel welcome, thank you! :D

When Angel’s email appeared on Willow’s smartphone-screen she nearly choked on her breakfast bagel. In a hurry, she gulped down the glass of orange juice and quickly regained her composure to read the message.

        

Willow,

I need to talk to you, in private. Would you meet me in your backyard? This way you wouldn’t need to invite me – I understand that this may be too much to ask after my latest backslide… But it’s about Giles and I need your help.

Angel

PS: By the way, Faith has just bestowed me with one of those horrible technical devices, a smartphone but I have to admit that it comes in quite handy.

 

 _Whoa,_ she thought, _I’m glad that Buffy’s late…_ Buffy with her extra Slayer senses would have guessed something right away.

Okay, this was serious! And he mentioned Giles… Willow instantly had to fight back her tears. No time for that now. Buffy would be here any minute! She hastily typed in a reply and proposed a meeting at her house for tonight at 8.30, after sunset. Now she was relieved, for the first time, that the building had needed some remedial actions before the floors were habitable again. The former owner had only used one floor to live in and hadn’t care about the others. Apart from the extra costs for renovating, it now made a secret meeting much easier.

In a few weeks, the other floors would be habited not only by Xander and Dawn but also by Buffy and her current roomies, Annaheed and Tumbler. Willow had no idea what they were doing tonight but Buffy would be teaching a gym course at her studio, so there was no danger of her popping up spontaneously. As for Xander and Dawn, they did not exactly live in the nearest neighborhood and wouldn’t stop by for a visit just like that.

Willow’s house was way too big for her alone anyway. She had bought it only two months ago, after her great success with an anti-virus program. She had fallen in love with the old villa the moment she had laid eyes on it. It was old and very _Fin de Siècle_ with large windows and high ceilings. The house itself was surrounded by a crackly high wall but the portal that was covered with ivy, gave view to a charmingly overgrown lawn. The air seemed so much cleaner around there, and the street was lined with old large European beeches. She imagined how there would be enough space for the whole Scoobie gang – they hadn’t talked about it but Willow thought it would sure be nice to have some kind of anchor again, a safe place for all of them. Like Buffy’s house back in Sunnydale.  


_Well, not so much safe but it had become their home_. Or Giles’ flat, where they used to have their meetings before everything had changed. And when she was walking along this particular street with the freshly received check in her hands, just to enjoy another look before she’d meet up with the others to celebrate the news, she discovered a sign that said “House for sell”.  
When she suggested the others to move in as well, they enthusiastically accepted.

Willow took another sip from her orange juice, trying to calm herself down. If she acted normal, this secret meeting would actually turn out to be a secret meeting. It sure was weird. Not only had Angel made himself rare after the whole Twilight-incident but he had also teamed up with Faith to fight against evil on the other hellmouths of the world. And, as Willow figured, much more so to be anywhere but near Buffy and Spike. And then there was this Goddess that looked like a distressing cross between Fred and a very large smurf. _What was her name again? Ilyria? Anyway, it sure was odd! And Angel finally had gotten himself a smartphone. That was news all by itself!_

His reply came in form of a short text message:

Thank you! See you later!

 _Huh!_ Now it was settled. She would be secretly meeting with Buffy’s former lover and couldn’t talk to Buffy about it. This sucked… _I’ll tell her after, he can’t expect me to keep this secret longer than necessary…_ Now she was curious. How was she supposed to have breakfast – she glanced at the watch – well, brunch anyway with Buffy and not tell her about the email?!? _Breath. You can do this. Act like a grown-up, you can---_

 ***** _Goddess!_ *****

“Hey Will, sorry I’m late! Did I just scare you?”

“Buffy, hi! Uh... I was just thinking – well, yeah, you got me a bit! I was just going through some work related stuff...”

Willow sent her a cheerful smile. “I hope you don’t mind that I already ordered my bagel? I've been up for hours and was so hungry…”

“No, of course not! Sorry again, for the lateness but Tumbler was blocking the bathroom again – you know he has a new boyfriend so he spends endless hours in front of the mirror, fussing about his hairdo!”

“I can quite imagine! But you gotta admit, he really **is** a cutie!”

The Wicca was pleased with herself. That had turned out pretty well! They laughed and chatted and Willow could even forget about Angel’s email.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

It was chilly outside and Will pulled her cardigan tighter around her. “Will!”

She turned around quickly. “Angel, hi!”

He smiled shyly. “So… How’ve you been? And Faith? – But I guess you don’t have time for small talk, right?” “I’ve got all night”, he chuckled. “But I’m afraid what I’m going to tell you will be taking that much time. I’m good, though. And Faith’s doing just great! She’s staying with Illyria in L.A. and says “hi” to all of you. Well, to you anyways.”

When Angel was still lurking at the front door, Willow remembered. “O, yea! It’s my house, right… So, come on in. I officially invite you.”

“Thank you! … Wow, I heard that you did a great job for a computer company but that’s just… wow!”

Willow ducked her head. “O c’mon, Angel. That’s still way less posh than your hotel in L.A. - but then again, it didn’t stand the huge earthquake and it’s all ruined now and I better stop talking, right?”

Angel gave her a quick smile. “It’s okay, we haven’t been in L.A. for a while and with the money that Faith had inherited from Giles we have no trouble finding accommodation. This is a wonderful house, Willow. I really like it!”

“Thanks! I'm not finished with the decorations yet – and the other floors still need some restoration but my floor already feels homey!"

They had reached the living room and Willow gestured Angel to take a seat on one of the old sofas.

Suddenly, Willow blurtet out: "Can I offer you some blood?"

Angel looked shocked. "Oh, not what you're thinking! I knew you're coming, so I went to the butcher and ordered some cow's blood... Which, by the way, *ugh!* - I'm vegan now, you know?"

"Well, then I will have a cup, thank you! And um... congrats to your dietary change. I hear it's really healthy.... For humans, anyway - you sure alright with me drinking blood in front of you?"

"Absolutely!"

A minute later she had returned with a tray of beverages. Angel guiltily took a sip from his mug.

"Um, how's been living with Faith? Must have been a small fortune that Giles passed on to her…” “That’s right. But I assure you, we’re spending it wisely. Faith has grown, really.” Willow nodded: “I know. It’s just… Buffy has been in such a bad state when all she got from Giles was the _Book of Vampyres_ – and after the Seed of Magic had been destroyed, the pages just turned blank. It’s got nothing more to say on the good old vampires like yourself or Spike – because we’ve changed the way, you know?”

Angel shivered. “We’ve fought against them. They’re awful.”

“Xander calls them Zompires.”

Angel was grinning: “That’s a fitting name! But they won't last much longer. Rumor has it that the Seed of Magic is growing again..."  
  
"True. But it will take a while until it's in its full power. The coven is watching over it. And I hope that the pages will refill themselves, once the power is back. I'm very glad that I got mine back." She cleared her throat and forced her lips into a cheerful grin: “But here I am, talking and talking when you are here to tell me something. So, let’s hear your story. I’m all ears!”

The vampire sat down on the comfy chair. “Good. See, we’ve spent months of investigating a way to bring back Rupert without the Urn of Osiris. I know the last one that was left was broken during Buffy’s resurrection.”

When he saw fear flickering in the young witch’s eyes, he added: “This kind of resurrection wouldn’t even involve Osiris – Thanks to the remnants of Wolfram and Hart, we’ve found another way.”

When Angel finally had told Willow his story, the night already began turning into an early morning. Willow suppressed a yawn and got up to close the curtains. Suddenly she was very tired.

“Angel, it’s really late… or early… And I haven’t slept for 20 hours. I’m afraid, I need to rest first before I promise anything in a rush. Is that ok for you?”

“Of course! It’s a lot to think about.”

“Yeah… But before I go napping, I want to say thank you! For finding a way to bring him back. We’ve been missing him terribly. But… after Buffy…” she took a deep breath, “I vowed myself that I won’t ever do a resurrection again – without the permission from the person in question.”

“I understand, I do! But what if there was a way to ask Giles – or rather his essence – if he wanted to come back again?”

Willow was shocked. “This… this is impossible… How?”

“I know, it sounds unthinkable – but, as I told you, right now I’m acting as a vessel for Rupert’s essence.”

“Yeah you told me but I’m not sure if I understand, really. I guess it’s the lack of sleep I’m having right now, ‘cuz, I’m pretty sleepy and my head is kinda spinning and you’ve been talking for, like hours and I’m babbling, am I?”

“Hey, that’s okay. I just thought you should know the whole story. And I really have been talking for hours”, he smiled.

Willow smiled a tired smile. “So let me try to get the info down: You’ve found a way to bring back Giles, without me needing to contact Osiris. And now you’re telling me that I won’t have to do the hard work at all, because you already got his essence…” “That’s right!”

“… In you?”

“Yeah”, I’m acting as a vessel of his essence.”

“Ok. So I wasn’t already asleep when I heard you saying it. Wow… That’s really big, Angel. But… How is it possible… I mean, you’re already carrying a demon inside you… plus your soul… and now Giles’s spirit as well? How do they get along in there?”

“I’m not sure. But I think it was time that Rupert got his own body. Right now he experiences everything I do – like in a dreamy state. See, if you helped me to separate the demon from myself, you could connect with him… Oz suggested some kind of meditat…” “Whoa, wait a sec. You spoke to Oz??” Suddenly she was awake again.

“Um… yeah… And… he says “hi” as well… And his kid is adorable!” Angel beamed at her. “Anyway, if this worked, you’d have a chance to contact Rupert and just ask him. Or his essence. I didn’t really comprehend this part of the process but I know that you could connect. Please, Willow. If anyone can get do this, it’s you!” Willow shifted uncomfortably on the sofa.

“All we need is a safe space where nothing can intrude from outside. I was hoping you’d know of something… After all I’m talking to the greatest Wicca in this hemisphere.”

The redhead blushed slightly. She seemed to be hooked. “I know a space. But I’m not sure if I’m welcome back there. Um… I… uh… have kind of a history with the Goddess of this dimension. She was blushing again. Angel’s eyes widened and then he said: “Oh. Um… Well… You could ask… Maybe she’s willing to let personal stuff aside for a greater good?”

“Ugh… She’s quite deceiving… But yeah, maybe she would. Maybe she feels guilty about her behavior before I dumped her. I think, it’s worth a shot!”

It would be huge. But the pure possibility of having Giles back in her life again thrilled Willow beyond words.


	3. Chapter 3

Willow spent the next couple of days combing through libraries and any occult bookshops that had survived after the Seed of Magic had been destroyed. In the end, it all came back to one thing: She had to contact Aluwyn, the Saga Vasuki, Goddess and trickster. 

The easiest way to reach her was through a euphoric physical state, in other words: Sex. Yet Willow had no intentions to call one of her “orgasm friends” for this – much less when Angel had to be in the same room! No, there had to be another way... 

Meditation. She was out of practice but she hoped that Aluwyn would sense her and meet her half way. After all, they had not really parted on bad terms. Aluwyn had understood – as much as a Goddess was capable of understanding human emotions. Willow just wasn’t sure how it would be to face her again. 

She started meditating and went on until, suddenly, she felt herself lifted and surrounded by a cozy orange light.  
A familiar voice brushed gently against her ear: “Willow! Good to see you again.”  
“Aluwyn!” Her arms reached out for the green skin and they embraced.  
“You’re not back for me, are you?”  
“Well… Actually, no. I’m here for a friend.”  
The sorceress didn’t seem to be surprised. “I thought so. How can I help?”  
“I need a safe space to talk to him. A place, where I feel safe as well.”  
Aluwyn smiled: “I’m glad to hear that you still… trust me.”  
“I didn’t say that. You’re still the trickster, Aluwyn. But I also know that you wouldn’t do anything to harm me. After all, we’ve shared a lot… And I’ll always remember that fondly.”  
Aluwyn quickly averted her eyes from her former lover’s gaze. “It’s good to know that, too. You know, if you ever want to come back for good… I’ll always be there for you.”  
Willow swallowed and stretched out her hand to pet Aluwyn’s arm. “Thank you. I really appreciate that. But now it’s not the time…”  
Aluwyn nodded ruefully, then regained her composure and smiled: “So, what can I do, exactly? Who are you planning to bring with you?”  
“A good friend… or rather, his essence. He’s dead, you know? I need to ask him, if he wants to be resurrected or if he wants to stay… Wherever that is. Right now a vampire with a soul acts as his vessel…”

Aluwyn had been listening with increasing interest but when she heard 'vampire', she cut the Wicca off:  
“You cannot bring a vampire into my realm! It’s impossible… Even for you, Red.”  
“But… Maybe I can extract the essence from the vampire… Maybe I could carry him with me. Would that be okay?”  
Aluwyn calmed down. “Yes… That would do… Do you have someone to watch over you?”  
Willow swallowed again. “Well… That would be the vampire, I guess.”  
Aluwyn shook her head in disbelief. “A vampire, really? With a soul? – No, don’t tell me. I’m sure you got your reasons to trust him.”  
“I really do”, Willow assured her. 

Aluwyn sighed again. “Fine. You can bring his essence. I’ll create a space where you two can connect. You must know, however, that you won’t be able to communicate verbally with him. Your hearts will speak. Are you sure you want him to see, what’s in your heart? You’ll offer him the essence of you, Willow. No disguises. Are you sure that he is worth it?”  
“Absolutely! I owe him that. He saved me… A lot”, she added. 

The connection was fading. She whispered her goodbye and found herself in her room again. She had to pee, very urgently. “I’ll keep in mind not to drink coffee before the connection”, Willow scolded herself and got up.


	4. Chapter 4

IV. 

In the afternoon, she called Angel and told him that they needed to transfer Giles’s essence into her body.  
“You’ll have to watch me… In case I don’t come back.” He didn’t reply and for a moment Willow wondered, if he was still on the phone. Finally he spoke, with a strained voice. “Sure.”

She let out a relieved sigh. “Good! Then I’ll see you tonight, right?”  
“Right.”  
She was about to wipe over the screen to end the talk when she heard him call her name. “Willow?”  
“Yeah?”  
“What do I do if you don’t come back?”  
Willow took a deep breath. “I will give you some instructions beforehand but… let’s just hope that won’t happen, okay?”  
The vampire suppressed a shudder and nodded. “’Kay. I’m on my way.”

Three hours later, Angel arrived with a pile of bags. “What’s in there?”  
“Clothes. For Giles…”  
“Oh… Wow, that’s… very considerate of you… I think.”  
“Well, I thought – what if everything runs smooth and he can’t wait to return… He should have something to wear, right?”  
“I think so… Wow, you must be like *really* hoping for him to return.”  
“It would give me some peace. I have seen… stuff… a memory of Rupert’s. I don’t wanna talk about it. Just… Please, get him back.”  
The thought that he really did look like an abandoned puppy shot through Willow's mind involuntarily.  
“It’s up to him, Angel, but I’ll do what I can, I promise. Come on in, I’ve prepared the living room for the magicks.”

Angel could feel the magic hovering above the ground where Willow had painted a protection symbol with white chalk on the wooden floor. “Here we are”, she laughed nervously and tried to dub her own anxiety.  
“You have to watch me very carefully;” she instructed. “If you detect any – I repeat – any signs of black on me, my hair, veins etc., you have to kick me, alright?”  
“T-to kick you?”  
“Well, you have to try to snap me out of my dream-state mind and back to this reality. I’m taking a spiritual journey to another dimension.” He gave her an admiring glance but she shook her head and went on: “I’ve done this before, many times. This is different, though because I’ve never had to take someone with me, you know? I’ve already talked to Aluwyn… the Goddess of this dimension. She’ll see to it that I come through but the hardest part will be Giles.”

Angel looked slightly confused. “What about him? He can’t do much in his state...”  
“I know. That’s why it is so hard. Our spirits have to be well tuned.”  
She blushed a bit and hinted at the computer. “That’s why I made a compilation of relaxing music… Um… I hope you don’t mind?”  
Angel gawped at her. “Don’t mind? Of course I don’t mind!”  
He seemed to ponder on something. Willow cocked her head and gave him an encouraging nod.  
“It’s nothing, I was just wondering if… um…”  
“C’mon, spill it out!”  
He ran his hand through his dark hair and cleared his throat: “All right! You don’t happen to think, by any chance, that Barry Manilow would fall under the category of relaxation music?”

Now it was for Willow to gawp. The red head stared at him and blinked several times, as if to make sure that he wasn’t a figment or she in some sort of dream-state already.  
“Forget it, it’s stupid to assume…”  
“No, no! I mean… Um… I may have something of Manilow on my computer but… er… I can copy you some songs from him onto your smartphone – would you like that?”  
Angel’s eyes lit up and he had a hard time to restrain himself from jumping with joy.  
“Thank you, Willow, that’d be so great!”  
She smiled: “No biggy.” *Barry Manilow, really??* She hastily bent down to her laptop to spare Angel the sight of her amused grin.  
“Anyways, um, for this procedure I rather prefer non-vocal music. I pretty much based my compilation on the list of songs that Oz and Tara…” – here she stopped for a split second – “recommended as meditation music.”  
She switched on the loud speakers and soon the soft sounds of Indian music filled the room. 

Angel nodded. “I see. So, um… where do we start?”  
“You’ll sit down… Here, within this circle. I hope to extract Giles’s essence without tickling Angelus’ demon…”  
“I’ll keep him under control!”  
“Okay. He shouldn’t feel too cozy in here, anyway. Because of this protection circle and all the stuff I put around us to prevent anything bad to interrupt us. I hope, you can endure it, though. I kinda zompire-proofed this house… But I made an exception for vampires with a soul.” Angel flinched at this. Spike… 

“No, it’s totally fine! But I can tell that Angelus wouldn’t want to show up in the middle of a circle like this.”  
“I’m relieved to hear that”, Willow confessed.  
“Okay, I’ll have to face you during the transfer. You should feel the loss of his essence but don’t worry, I’m the next person near you, so he’ll automatically turn to me. When this has happened, it’s up to me to get me, or rather us, in the mood to astral-travel. That’s the moment where you have to watch me carefully. From there on, it could take some time…”

“How long exactly?”

“Well, that depends… Time has no meaning there – but don’t worry, I drank some coffee earlier when I thought about it”  
“Uh-huh… and that’s helpful because…?”  
Willow giggled. “Well, the call of nature – get’s me back every time.”  
He held up his hands. “I understand. So I’ll sit here, watch you and in case you turn veiny I…”  
“You’ll have to hit me, Angel. Very hard. And if I stay veiny… You’ll have to kill me, you understand?”  
Angel nervously bit down his lip and nodded. 

Willow jumped up and down as if she wanted to shake off the dark scenario. “Happy thoughts, Angel. Before we enter the circle, we shouldn’t be thinking about what could go wrong!” The vampire let out a brisk laugh but then tried to relax as well and eventually, he followed her suit and jumped up and down.  
It was amazingly liberating. 

Out of breath, Willow giggled and let herself down into the circle. Angel smiled at her and lowered himself as well. She took his hands in hers, closed her eyes and concentrated. They didn’t have to wait long, she could feel him floating into her. Her heart jumped with joy and she hoped that he would be able to feel it. 

She inhaled deeply and waited for the orange fog to appear.  
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the green snakelike body of Aluwyn. They had made it. Giles was still with her, his presence was nearly physical. *Giles* she thought. No answer. She remembered Aluwyn’s words and suddenly, Willlow felt uplifted even higher and gave in to an overwhelming feeling of sheer bliss.  
**  
Angel had been watching Willow for what felt like an eternity and the moment she returned, he felt Giles’s essence taking its place inside his body as well. She stirred and opened her eyes, blinking. The room was pitch dark. She recognized Angel’s voice, piercing the darkness like a needle.  
“Willow! Are you alright?”  
“Angel? I’m fine… could you please turn on some light?”  
“Right, sorry!”  
The dimmed lamp turned the black into a soft beige. The room was still the same.  
When she saw his facial expression, big, childlike eyes, as if he was a boy expecting a surprise, but not sure, if it was a good or a bad one, Willow had to laugh. “It’s alright, Angel! He wants to come back.”

The vampires face lit up in an instant. “That’s… Wow! Do we tell Buffy and the others now?” 

Willow stretched. “Well… Yes, I guess that’s only fair…” Then she realized that he seemed to be brooding again.  
“What is it, Angel? There’s something bothering you, out with it!”  
“It’s just… I hope nothing goes wrong. I don’t think I could ever cross Buffy again when I mess this up…”  
“Whoa, Mister. If this goes wrong, then I’m a big part of the messing-up-mix – but it won’t! It won’t go wrong, Angel. You have to give me some faith in this here – no pun intended!”

He nodded. “Ok. I gave you the papers I found at Wolfram & Hart. Can you tell me what you need for the embodiment?”  
“Well… That’s the ugly part of this: We’ll need something of Giles’s body. The bigger, the better – like a pelvic bone…” When she saw his shocked face, she hastily added: “But a finger will do, too. I can totally do that!” He let out a breath. “Uh… But here comes the really big eeewy...” Angel cut her in: “We’ll have to exhume his grave.” 

“Yeah. I hope Buffy gets that too. Can you talk to her, please? I’ll step in when she’s turning it down but given my resurrection-history I don’t want to be the one who brings this to her, you know?”

“I understand! I’ll talk to her but… Could you… I mean, could you please make sure that I won’t run into Spike when I knock at her door? I mean.. Of course I’ll call her first but…” 

“You’re jealous! But yes, I’ll make sure. And do call her first, it’s probably the safest way to avoid meeting Spike. I don’t think Buffy’s too eager to see you both start fighting over her…”  
Angel snorted. “Pha! As if…” He stopped himself. “I’m sorry. I’ll set my issues with the blonde Billy Idol wannabe aside for this.”  
“That is very mature”; Willow mocked him with a broad grin. “If you’ll excuse me now, Angel, I’m very tired… And also”, she hinted at the bathroom, “the coffee…”

Angel was already at the door.  
“I’ll call you when I talked to Buffy. Good night! And thank you! You did great!”

Despite her weariness, Willow did not sleep well.  
Images of Tara kept showing up and made her miss her soulmate like hell. She didn’t want to give in into the illusion of warmth and comfort that the image was giving her, because she knew it was but a wish that would never come true.  
Was Tara trying to tell her something? No, that wasn’t possible. 

But why did the bookshelf of the Magic Shop pop up behind her? The image of Tara pointed to a heavy volume on the shelf. It must be important - and it must be something Willow already knew! After all she had drawn in every information that the books contained before she went on her rampage-trip and nearly ended the world. It’s been only four years, yet so much had changed. There had to be something in this book. Maybe some useful information? She tried very had to remember this part of the dream, for it might be relevant. She even tried to wake up but she was so very tired… 

Suddenly, the image of Tara vanished and was replaced by that of Rupert Giles. He looked the way Willow remembered him on his first day at the library in Sunnydale. She marveled at the difference. His hair was thick, he looked younger and somehow... motivated. And he wore a gray tweed suit. How she had loved these suits! This was a bit unnerving but much better than dreaming about dead lovers. Her High-School crush flashed back as a hot memory. 

Had she actually been talking to Giles today? She couldn’t remember vocalizing anything. What she did remember was a feeling of complete happiness and his essence that had surrounded her like a gentle breeze. It had cried out “yes, I want my body back and live again” – She had been so sure about that, then. Now she couldn’t help but wonder, to what extent her wish for his return was having its share in this.  
Her heart was pondering at first, but it calmed down very quickly after she felt his approval of her… Her what, exactly?  
Even though she was still dreaming, she began to have second thoughts about her spiritual trip. Aluwyn had helped her – but she was a magical trickster and perhaps had made her feel as if she could understand what Giles…  
Willow started up from her dream and blinked into the darkness. She blindly felt for the bedside lamp. It must have broken because it stayed dark. She felt a soft brush of air around her cheeks. “Aluwyn?”  
“Yes, it’s me, Red.”  
“Why… How…”  
“Because I could feel how you were torturing yourself in your dreams. I can assure you that it was not only your heart that called out to him – it was a mutual calling, if that makes it easier for you.”  
“Really? ‘Cause, yeah that helps pretty much, thank you!”  
“And I suggest you follow the lead of your soulmate and find out, what’s in that book she was pointing at”  
“Hey! Are you snooping in my dreams? That’s private, you know!”  
The Saga Vasuki chuckled and breathed a kiss to Willow’s cheeks. “I just wanted to help you. I’ll be gone now, dream on, my sweet.”  
Willow started up again and blinked. Carefully, she reached for the bedside lamp. This time, it lit up.  
*What a crazy dream*, she thought.


	5. Chapter 5

Willow was waiting for Angel’s call with keen attention.  
Three days had passed since their last encounter and by now he really should have get himself to talk to Buffy.  
How would she react? Would she trust her to resurrect Giles and not tearing him out of some heavenly dimension? Clearly, she would wanted more details about her – well, their – spiritual trip to Aluwyn, and all that Willow could be sure of was the feeling in her guts. Would it be enough to convince Buffy that this was okay, that Giles actually did want to be resurrected?

She flipped through the pages of her latest book by Laurie Penny she had ordered from a British book store but could not focus. Maybe another cup of coffee would help her to concentrate on anything else but her smartphone, though she doubted it.  
It rang! She wiped down the screen and before Angel could greet her.  
“Finally! Have you talked to Buffy? What did she say?”  
“Willow, calm down! We talked. She’s okay with it. She still has some question about your trip *I knew it!* but she understood why we kept this from her.”  
“So, she’s not mad?”  
Angel smiled against his smartphone. “No, she is not mad. She’s not even mad at me!” He sounded extremely pleased with this fact.  
Willow felt as if a mountain was heaved off her chest. She had not been aware how much the thought of annoying Buffy was bothering her. For the first time in weeks, she could breathe again freely.  
She smiled back (though she knew that Angel could not see her). “Thank goodness! This makes things so much easier!”  
“Yeah – as to explain what Faith and I are doing in San Francisco, for example”, the vampire responded.  
“Faith’s here as well?” Willow was surprised. “You two have really grown to each other, haven’t you?”  
Angel chuckled. “Yeah, but only in a platonic way. She was also keen about seeing you all again – and she seemed to get along great with Kennedy. They left the center together, when I met Buffy there to talk.”  
Willow didn’t know what to say. “Uh-huh.”  
Angel seemed to be confused: “You aren’t together anymore, right? I mean… right?”  
“Don’t worry, we haven’t been together since the break up – and I’d be relieved if she finally got into a new relationship. I just hope she’s not falling for the wrong gal. I mean, Faith’s totally emitting vibes that might spin your gaydar but you know her, she’s all in for the…” Willow cut herself off abruptly and was glad that Angel couldn’t see her flushing face. What am I thinking? This is Angel on the phone, not Buffy.  
“Erm… Angel?”  
He was chuckling: “I’m sorry, Will, I just… Buffy said something along these lines before we started talking… Well, not that with the gaydar-thing but – you know. I’m sure she wants to talk to you about that, too. About Faith and Ken, I mean.”  
“Yeah, I got it.” Another call was waiting. “You’re probably right… I think Buffy’s calling me right now. We’ll talk later, okay?”  
“Sure… Talk to you later, then.” But Willow had already hung up.  
She took a deep breath and accepted the incoming call. “Hello, Buffy!”  
It was good to be able to talk with her again without having to hide something. Buffy’s mood was amazingly cheerful.  
“Will! I just had a visit from Angel in the gym – I’m still so… this is so…” Buffy was cheering. She was actually cheering!  
Willow repressed the urge to do the Snoopy-dance, she felt incredibly happy. “Yeah,” she agreed, “I know!”  
Buffy seemed to be on her way, she nearly had to yell against the noise from the street. “So, is it true? You took Giles’ essence with you to your sexy ex-girlfriend? Isn’t that like… kinda kinky of you?”  
Willlow could imagine her friend’s facial expression in mock disapproval and giggled: “Well, it’s just been his essence… It’s not like he could actually see anything. Besides, that thing with Aluwyn? It’s been over for quite a while now, so, no, no kink involved!”  
The Slayer snorted with laughter “Aaw, come on, Will! Not even a bit...?” “Buffy!”  
“Okay, okay, sorry. You know, I’m very glad that you were able to ask Giles, right? I just… What did he say, exactly?”  
“Well… It’s a bit complicated…” Willow started.  
“Try me!”  
“Um… fine. We didn’t talk per se.”  
She could feel Buffy tensing up on the other side.  
“It was more of a feeling… A good feeling. We were – connected, you know?” When Buffy still didn’t reply, Willow’s mood sank. “I’m not saying it right,” she mumbled.  
“No, no… It’s just.” She gulped. “It’s really not easy to imagine,” the blonde explained, “but of course I believe you, Will. And I also trust you to do the right thing.”  
Willow was tearing up. “Thank you, Buff. It means a lot to me!”  
Buffy seemed on the verge of tearing up as well: “I’m nearly at your doorstep, by the way. I just couldn’t wait to talk to you!”  
Willow was still staring at her smartphone in disbelief, when the doorbell rang. As soon as she had opened the door, a tear-strained Buffy threw herself into Willow’s arms. They stood like this for a while, holding on to each other, calming each other down. The only sound that filled the corridor was the occasional sobbing and sniffling that escaped both of them.  
Buffy started to hiccup against Willow’s shoulder and the witch had to laugh. Between sobs and hiccups, she was laughing now, too. “Oh, Will – d- *hick* do you h-*hick* a ti- - “ Buffy gave up to form a whole sentence but Willow had understood. She gave her friend one last quick squeeze before she entangled herself from Buffy’s arms. Blinded by her own tears, she reached for the nearest occasional table that had a box of tissues on it.  
“Here,” she sniffed, smiling and Buffy thankfully pulled one out.  
“Sorry for getting all smudgy on you.”  
“Oh, that’s okay, really! I’m so glad we can finally talk about this!”  
“Yeah,” Buffy mumbled, while leaving a mascara-path down her eyes with the soft fabric. “Secrets bad.” She emphasized her opinion with a strepitous sneeze. 

“Uh, by the way, Faith came by, too. She and Kennedy seemed pretty close.”  
“Er… Yeah, so I’ve heard.” Willow told her about her phone call with Angel and Buffy laughed again. “I even thought about the gaydar-thing but I wasn’t sure if Angel would understand the word...”  
“So… You think there could be something between them?”  
Buffy shrugged her shoulders. “You never know with Faith…But I’d hate it to lose Ken as a business partner – I mean, if… they should get together… and I don’t know… Angel and I, we haven’t talked much about the future, you know? Besides the resurrection, that is. I don’t know if Faih feels ready to do her own thing. Without Angel.”

Willow nodded. “Yeah, I see what you mean. I just hope she doesn’t get hurt. Ken, I mean… How is working with her anyway?”  
Talking about her ex still made Willow uncomfortable. The fact that Ken haven’t had any serious relationship since their breakup was making her skittish. Which was totally unfair, Willow knew that. However, she was desperately hoping that the younger Slayer would find somebody, soon and that the carelessly hidden vibes of accusation that Ken shot directly at Willow each time she accidentally ran into her would eventually ease off.  
“Well, it’s good. We’re dividing our classes and we don’t talk that much... She’s been trained really thoroughly, though and knows a lot of stuff….” She trailed off.  
“Will, it’s ok to dump someone. She will get over it, give it time.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there,  
> I'm sorry it takes me so long to post new chapters - I've already written some more, I just need to write the ones "in between", you know? 
> 
> I hope you enjoy and thanks for anyone who left kudos! <3

Willow was very glad that Buffy went with her to let Xander and Dawn know about the resurrection plan. After they assured them many times that they wouldn’t need to slaughter a fawn or anything else cute and fluffy, they gave their approval. Dawn was jumping up and down and Xander shook his head in disbelief. Willow even caught a glimpse of him shedding a tear from his left eye. “We’ve all been missing him, Will, I think it’s about time to get him back! When does the mojo start?”  
Willow was beaming. “As soon as possible! I’ve already got all the ingredients I’ll need and Angel said he’s taking care of the icky-part...” “…Which is… digging out his grave and get his bones?” Xander finished her sentence. Willow eyed him with raised eyebrows but he seemed fine. “Well… If that’s what it takes, it is!” He gave her a friendly pat on her back and pulled her into a hug. “I know how hard you’ve been working on your magicks – and the mere fact that you’ve contacted Giles before you screamed yes is enough for me to know that it will be okay.” “Thank you, Xander!”  
Dawn was right behind Willow. “I’m so looking forward to it! I’ve been studying ancient Sumerian really hard, I can’t wait to talk to someone about the Kish Tablet and how funny it is, when you try to pronounce it because it’s an agglutinative language that…”  
Xander who put his arms around her shoulders and the strange gaze that Willow gave her stopped her flow of words.  
“Er.. Right, honey… I’m sure he’ll be proud of you.”  
“I’m confused…” Buffy muttered. “So am I,” Willow muttered back. “I mean, that is so totally me, isn’t it? Or… kind of…”  
Dawn sighed. “Relax guys! I’m well aware of the fact that Giles will need some time to readjust first… I’m just so happy that he’ll be back! – And don’t worry, I’ll stay away from the witchcraft!”  
It was a Saturday evening. Angel, Faith and – not surprisingly – Kennedy had taken care of collecting and transporting Giles’ bones to Willow’s place. Now they were gathering in her living room, not willing to leave the scene. 

“So”; Willow clapped her hands together and gave the crowd a small smile, “we’ve all come together to witness the resurrection of our beloved friend, mentor, ex-librarian slash ex-watcher, Rupert Giles. And… and this is totally fine with me… and it does not at all, say, piles the pressure…” She gulped audibly.  
Kennedy made a move towards her and swiftly patted her arm. “Will! You’re a goddess, remember? It’s a piece of cake!” Faith strolled by as well and while she laid one arms around Kennedy’s hips, she nudged Willow friendly with the other.  
“I gotta agree with your ex, Red! You’ve done much greater stuff and you didn’t turn veiny. Besides, you’ve got three Slayers next door, just in case.”  
“Well, thanks…Um… I’ll just… have another cup of coffee…. Anyone else for coffee,” she asked but headed out for the kitchen without waiting for an answer. Kennedy whispered something into Faith’s ear and followed Willow.  
Willow did not need to turn around to know who was standing in the doorframe. “So… you and Faith, huh?” Kennedy shrugged her shoulders. “Well. I’ve been single for quite a while now.” “True,” Willow spun around but she wasn’t angry at the younger woman. “I’m sorry. Of course you’ve the right to… It’s just… Faith… No, wait! I mean, I didn’t even know she was into women…” Kennedy let out an amused chuckle: “Seems like I made her find out!” Willow blushed a little. “Yeah… Are you guys… are you happy?” The Slayer was staggered. “Um… Yes… At least I think she is… I am, anyway. I want to give us a chance.”  
Willow had been staring into the mug. “Is it… Are you okay with it?”  
“What? Oh, yeah! I want you to be happy, Ken! And I’m happy that you are, I just need to get used to the fact that it’s Faith…” When she saw how Kennedy’s look clouded, she hastily added: “But I will! Soon! Faith has changed so much!” 

“Yes, she has!”  
Suddenly, Willow felt oddly relieved, as if an unknown burden had been lifted from her chest. She placed the mug down the table and opened her arms.  
“One last hug?” She offered.  
Kennedy’s face brightened. “C’mere,” she laughed and they hugged.  
“She just better not hurts you,” Willow mumbled into the dark hair of her former girlfriend.  
“No,” Kennedy smiled, “she better not!”

When they came back, the others seemed to let out a long withheld breath.  
“Everything cool?” Faith asked.  
“Yeah, ‘five by five’,” Willow told her and gave her a wink.  
“Great,” Buffy tuned in, “how do we start and what do we do?” 

“Well, at first I’ll check if Giles’ bones are correctly laid out on the examination table…”  
“Wait,” Dawn cut her off, “since when do you have an examination table? How did you get one?”  
“Yesterday. eBay.I thought it would be a good thing for a resurrection.”  
“Cool!”  
“– Anything else?”  
Dawn wildly shook her head. “No, sorry, please go on.”

“Okay, as I was saying, I’ll check his bones and see if everything is there that Giles will need. Angel has already bought him clothes – quite a lot, actually.” All eyes turned to the tall dark haired vampire who stood by the fireplace. “I wasn’t sure what to get him! It’s not that simple with… underwear for example.”  
“Eew, thanks for the picture, man!” Xander cried out and theatrically shielded his good eye. Dawn giggled and slapped him playfully.  
Willow decided to ignore the post pubertal outburst from her oldest friend and went on. “Anyway, it’s only Angel and me who will disappear into the guestroom, where I have prepared everything. You will wait here. If everything goes as it’s supposed to, Giles will embody himself right on the table. If not… Well, you’ll know soon enough, I’m sure of it.”

“Hold on,” Xander stretched up his arm in a way that made Willow think of Peter Falk performing Columbo, right before he asked his suspects the final question.  
“What is it?”

“Is Giles gonna reappear naked?!?” 

“Oh Xander, he’s been dead for about nearly 9 months, remember? Of course he’s gonna be naked when I resurrect him!”  
“That’s what the clothes are for… To robe him”, Angel intervened.  
“Right but before that….”  
Everyone else gave a groan.  
“There’s a blanket and we’ve got a baffle… So there won’t be anything improper going on there.”  
Xander’s face flushed. “Uh… okay then. No more questions from me.”  
“Uh… A last one!”  
“Buffy?”  
“Yeah… Er… I kinda invinted Spike… um… But since this is your house…”  
Angel raised his eyebrow. “You what?”  
“I invited Spike. He’s my… our friend. With a soul… And I told him to come around… About nowish?”  
Willow nodded: “Right, you told me about it before. I just forgot it, with the preparations and all.”  
She opened the large window and called out into the darkness. “Spike? Are you here?”  
A blonde head appeared from nowhere. “Red? Yeah, it’s me.”  
“Hey, come on in.”  
“Thank you!”  
Seconds later, he was upstairs, giving everyone a genuine smile – even Angel. “Wow, nice house you got here, Red! I mean, compared to the space shuttle full of beetles I used to live for the last 6 months, even my old crypt was a blast but this is just wow!”  
“You gotta tell us everything about this trip with the beetles,” Buffy exclaimed, “… er… later, of course. When Giles is alive and everything went smooth!” 

Angel was tapping his fingers on the mantelpiece. “So, who else does know about this? Have you also invited your roomies for the resurrection? Or the pizza guy?”  
“Hey, not fair,” Buffy exclaimed.  
“Yeah, bugger off! I’m back again and Buffy asked me to stay, so I’d have known anyway, sooner or later!”  
“Buffy asked you to stay?.... But I thought you were cookie dough,” he turned to her.  
Dawn and the others looked stunned. 

“Er… if that’s a sex-thing, I don’t wanna know,” Dawn informed her sister and was about to leave the room – closely followed by Xander, Kennedy and Faith, when Buffy grabbed her arm.  
“No, no sex thing. Stay.”  
Angel squinched up his face. Spike saw it and snickered. “And you two… You two will bury your hatchets, or stakes or whatever and end your childish battle! I’m so sick of it!”  
At that, Willow’s head peeped out of the doorframe. “Hey, not wanting to spoil a moment here – but I just checked on the bones and I think, we should get started, now. Angel?” 

“I’m going to help Willow,” he let Spike know, just before he left the room and quickly followed the Wiccan. 

Again, he felt Willow’s magicks floating through the room. “Angel, I need you to be calm, okay? Please, no hard feelings for Spike or anyone else. You need to focus on being… calm. The rest is up to me.”  
“Okay. I can do calm. Even if Spike is in the next room, even if Buffy asked him to stay…”  
“Angel! This is not about you! I’m sorry that it’s so hard for you but you need to focus on good vibes here!”

“I’m sorry! I will. Gods, Willow, I just wish… I wish I could get me a steady soul. I wish I could make Buffy…”  
The witch sighed. This wouldn’t work. She needed to do something to cheer him up. The weird dream popped into her memory, the one where Tara had pointed at a book. Aluwyn had told her it would become important. Maybe…  
She concentrated hard and then it hit her. Inside the book was a counter-spell. The solution for Angel’s curse. Of course… Why hadn’t she thought of it sooner? Because there was always so much going on, that is why.

“Angel?”  
“Yeah, I’m calm.”  
She had to grin. “That’s good. When this is over, I have a surprise for you. I’ll need some extra stuff for it but I think I just figured out how to break that Gypsy course of yours.”

Angel stared at Willow. “Are you just saying this to get Spike out of my mind?”  
The witch violently shook her head: “No! I’ve been having dreams, lately. I was shown the cover of a book – one of the books I drew blank before I went crazy… It just occurred to me, that it contains a spell to break your curse. I didn’t remember because I couldn’t stand thinking about this time much – it was still too painful, you know?”

“I understand… But now…?”

“Now seems to be the right time. I’ve worked out many things about me… Of course it’s still painful, but I’ve come to accept the past. I can handle it now.” She smiled up at him, reassuringly. Angel couldn’t help but smile back.  
“I’m ready!” Willow figured that he meant ready be freed from the curse as well as ready to let go of Giles’ essence. 

They took their hands and closed their eyes. Then, Willow began with the chanting. Like the last time, Angel felt Giles’ spirit moving inside him. Slowly, very slowly, the blanket on the examination table behind the folding screen began to lift…


	7. Chapter 7

While Giles body magically reassembled itself piece by piece, the others were anxiously waiting in the large room. 

Xander seemed on the edge of a nervous breakdown. His eyes were wide open and he was taking quick, shallow breaths. Finally, Dawn couldn’t stand the sight of him anymore and gently took his trembling hands into hers. He feebly protested: “… But I’ve got sweaty palms!” “That’s alright,” she assured him, “see? All better. Try to be not too nervous, ok?”  
He gave her a small, forced smile. “You’re right. I can be calm. I used to have a nervous twitch with my left eye – luckily the one that’s left now is my right one!”  
Dawn let out a sigh and gave him a quick peck on his glowing cheeks. 

The only ones that seemed to be calm were Kennedy and Spike. Even Faith was walking up and down the room. Buffy started babbling: “This is like one of those murder-mysteries, where all the suspects are forced to wait in one room - -“ All eyes were staring at her and she paddled back: “…Only... without a case… and no suspects… and also something… completely different… I’m sorry!”  
Spike made a vague gesture with his arm. “Actually, the suspect has already confessed and is now trying to get his clean slate back by recreating his former victim…”  
“Spike,” Buffy blurted out, “it wasn’t Angel – it was Twilight!”  
“Yeah, right,” he snorted. 

Kennedy was visibly irritated: “Um, guys? Could you please not start bitching now?”  
“Yeah,” Faith agreed, “Don’t mess with the mojo next door! We all want Giles back in one piece, right?”

Buffy and Spike seemed indeed contrite and mumbled an apology. Then they looked at each other and smiled. “I really am sorry, pet,” Spike whispered while closing the distance between himself and his former lover.  
Buffy’s heart made a loop. “Me too. Look, I know it must be weird for you here… But I’m glad that you are… here, I mean. And I really wish you and Angel would get along. After all, you two have changed a lot – and wouldn’t it be nice if, you know…” She blushed deeply and Spike gulped. 

“Er… Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting??” He was thankful that his cheeks stayed pale but could swear his face was hot. “Bloody hell, pet, that’s quite a shocker!”

Buffy glanced over to her little sister and Xander who threw back puzzling looks at the two of them. “Um… yeah… I shouldn’t have brought it up now…”  
“Also, you’re forgetting his little curse and we all know the gist…” Buffy blushed even more. “Er… Let’s discuss this another time, okay?”  
Spike’s voice sounded slightly amused when he answered. “Yeah, let’s do that!”

Faith and Kennedy were lounging in the comfy chair on the other side of the room, occasionally touching each other. Buffy snuggled against Spike’s arm and nodded over to them. “Who would have thought that Faith could work out a relationship, huh?” Spike sounded husky. “Well… The right person at the right time…”

The innuendo trailed off without Buffy’s response because Faith chose that moment to address the blonde Slayer. “Hey, B., have a moment?”

“Um, sure?” 

When Buffy had reached the other Slayer, she marveled at how peaceful Faith looked. Faith noticed the change in Buffy’s gaze and grinned. “Yeah… It’s obvious, isn’t it? I believe I’ve never felt that relaxed before in my life!”  
She bestowed Kennedy, who had joined Dawn and Xander, with a genuine smile across the room. “That’s great!” “Yeah... Listen, I wanted to know if… Are we okay?” Buffy was stunned. “Sure we are… I mean… What I meant before… about how this situation reminded me of those old mystery-movies… I wanted to thank you.”

Now Faith was baffled. “Thank me?!? What for?”

“For saving Angel. For saving Giles. For… doing really good stuff!”

“Um… Thanks… So… you don’t mind me hanging around you people a bit longer? It’s just that… Hell, I’ve missed Giles. He’s been like a father to me… but who am I telling that...”  
She took a deep breath before she went on. “And now there’s Ken… I’ve never had anything like that before and I… I want to give it a shot. Would you be okay with this?” 

“You’re asking for my permission for you to stay with Kennedy – in San Francisco?” 

“More for your approval. I know how things have sucked between us in the past but we’ve all changed… Like you said, I’m one of the white hats now. I just don’t want to mess up again, with you, with your friends…” 

“Faith…”

The dark haired woman became agitated: “Look, we’ve plans – Ken and me. I want to finish High School and work with troubled kids – Giles has helped me to become, you know, like a social worker for rogue Slayers. Since there aren’t any left, I thought I could use these skills to help… normal people…”

Buffy giggled. “Are there any?” 

“???”

“Normal people, I mean,” Buffy explained and giggled again. 

Faith looked perplex and Buffy felt the need to make her understand.  
“I’m sorry, Faith! It’s alright, I mean, your plan to stay – it’s cool.”

“It’s cool?” She blinked. “--Really?”

“Yes. This sounds good. I like your plan and I like Kennedy… and I also pretty much like you right now.”

Faith was stunned. “Huh! Wow.” She smiled. “Look at us! We’re getting cuddly after all! Well, now that everything’s clear between us, tell me one more thing…”

Buffy furrowed her brows. “What?”

“What the heck did you mean with the mystery-movies-analogy?” 

“Oh that… Well… I just thought that this would be a perfect time to catch up on some topics we would have never discussed if we weren’t forced to wait in the same room, feeling anxious,” she smiled. 

Faith laughed. “Got a point! Phew, I feel so good now!”

“Did Kennedy make you have the talk with me?”

“Uh… Yeah… But I’m really glad she did!”

“You know what? Me too!”

Kennedy was approaching them and had caught the last parts of their conversation. “That’s great, no give each other a hug and then hand me back my girlfriend,” she grinned and punched each of her co-slayers playfully on their backs. 

Finally, they all gathered around the large table and started talking to each other. Buffy even noticed Xander and Spike getting along. _Did Willow secretly burn weed or why are we all in Ghandi-mode_ , Buffy wondered. Whatever it was, she decided to appreciate it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there,  
> sorry it takes me so long to update - I was on vacation and had no internet... :p  
> xx

The 279-year old vampire stared at the young woman in front of him. She had stopped her chanting yet the room was still echoing her sounds. Willow was grinning from ear to ear, her head thrown back, eyes closed, panting heavily as if in ecstasy. Suddenly, the witch was bathed in a white light and Angel was stunned when he figured, that she was the source of it. For a moment, he was sure he would just burst into flames but he didn’t dare to move or break her concentration. With a long sigh that would have made Angel flush had he been human, the bright light vanished and Willow opened her eyes.  
“Giles?” she asked.  
They heard a rustle behind the mobile room divider and then a familiar voice. “Willow?”  
The redhead jumped up. “Giles!! You made it!”  
Angel was on his feet as well. “Thank God!”  
Giles’ voice was very gentle when he replied. “No, Willow, you did it! Angel? Thank you…” He interrupted himself and let out a short laugh. “This is all… Just give me a minute… O dear Lord!” Willow and Angel exchanged worried glances. “Giles – is everything alright?”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine… I seem to be more than fine, actually,” he muttered. He sounded as if he could not believe what was going on. 

Willow made her well-known expression where she turned her upper part of her face into a crumple zone. Had he forgotten their transdimensional pep talk and gone mad? “Er... Giles, I thought we kinda talked about what I was about to do… I didn’t pull you out from somewhere nice, right?”  
“Oh, no, no!” He assured her, sounding unnervingly gleeful. “Somehow you managed to heal my back… I don’t feel any pain whatsoever. I feel really quite well!”  
Angel made a move towards the curtain. “Maybe you could step out – uh, there are clothes in the bags…”  
“Yes, thank you! That’s very considered of you.”  
They heard him going through the bags.  
Willow was now utterly nervous. “Er… we also got you some glasses but weren’t sure if they fit…”  
A soft chuckle escaped from the other side. “I believe that’s not a pressing issue right now, but thank you… I’ll be there in a minute.”  
They heard the sound of a zipper. When Giles stepped out from behind the dividing wall, the witch and the vampire made gulping noises.  
Angel found his speech first. “I must say, Giles… You look…”  
“O Goddess!” Willow exclaimed.  
Giles turned towards the young woman who looked utterly flustered. Was she blushing?  
When he saw their flabbergasted expressions, he strongly wished for a mirror. “What is it? Am I… Is something wrong?”  
Angel shook his head. “Well, no, definitely not wrong! Here, see for yourself.” He hinted at a large mirror next to the door and Giles took some hesitant steps towards it. When he saw his reflection, he let out a surprised plosive sound. “How… Why…” He turned back to Willow who still stared at him with wide eyes.  
He tried to articulate a sentence. “Er… not that I’m not pleased with the rejuvenating outcome – but how come that I look…”  
“…Exactly like I remember you when I first met you almost ten years ago,” Willow finished his question. Her voice was low, almost a whisper.  
Giles took a step closer in her direction and marveled at how much she had changed since his death. Her hair was now a darker shade of auburn, long and somehow thicker and her eyes – well, her eyes were still the most beautiful ones he had ever seen and they were looking at him quite intensely. It was Giles’ turn to gulp.  
“You… You remembered the first day you met me? Back in Sunnydale, in the library?” he stammered.  
She flushed again for a second. “Of course…“ She smiled but didn’t go on.  
His first impulse was to ask her further questions, why had she made him younger? Had it happen on purpose? Or, perhaps more likely, was it the result of her unconsciousness? Was that the way she imagined him, still, after all those years?  
Yet he restrained himself from asking her right away. She seemed too perplex herself to be in the position of giving him clear answers, anyway. Besides, who was he to question his good fortune? He gave her a sheepish half smile. “Well, that’s a rather pleasant surprise.”

Angel cleared his throat. Rupert’s appearance reminded him painfully of the watcher before Angelus had killed his love and tortured him. Those events had caused Giles to age rapidly and Angel knew that Buffy partly blamed herself for that. He hated his evil twins lurking under his own skin. It would be such a blessing if Willow were able to break that damn curse and install his soul for good.  
“Are you ready to face the others?” he asked. “Buffy, Xander, Dawn, Faith, Kennedy… They’re all waiting for you in the next room.”  
“Not to forget Spike,” Willow added but she could not tell if Giles was even listening anymore.  
At the mention of Kennedy, the former watcher felt an odd rush of regret. Had Willow not broke off with her? Right before he died – no, got killed – he had overheard Buffy chatting with Willow about a snake demon that Willow was supposed to be dating… Not that this was an image, he liked to dwell on! A gentle touch on his arm snapped him out of his reverie.  
“Shall we go?”  
He realized that they were alone in the room and for the first time, he noticed the high ceilings and the large windows. In awe, he let his eyes roam along the ornamented ceiling.  
“I bought a house,” Willow explained. “This used to be my meditation room… I turned it into a guest room for you – if you’d like to stay here until you’ve figured out what to do, that is,” she added.  
Giles let out a joyful gasp. He took her small hand in his and squeezed it shortly.  
“It seems that I’ll have a lot to catch up… This is more than I could have asked for – and I’d very much like to stay with you and Kennedy – if that is really okay with you.”  
Willow made a surprised face. “Me and Kennedy? Why do you think…”  
Then it dawned upon her. “Oooh… No! It’s just me. In this floor, at least. I’ll show you everything. Um, the other floors still need some fixing but the plan is to have the old Scooby gang under one roof within the next three months. But, um… Kennedy lives… somewhere else and, also, currently with Faith…”  
Giles eyes widened. “Oh. Er… Well, there really have been changes during my absence…” He looked nervous. “Is there anything else I should know before I meet them and make a complete moron of myself?”  
Willow squeezed his hand back and let out a sympathetically laugh. “Well, Xander and Dawn are a couple… But I figure that you already knew that back then? By the way, Dawnie is still recovering from the consequences of the destroyed Seed of Magic, so don’t mind her falling asleep every now and then! Um, Spike has been on a space journey with some extraterrestrial bugs that made him their king, Buffy and Ken have opened a gym that is also a secret training center for potential slayers, we’ve got a friend who’s a detective and fights against supernatural stuff and the big bad of the season are zombie-vampires that we call zompires but we’ll fill you in on that after you’ve made your coming out – I mean, as a newly-resurrected person – o Giles, I’m so glad that you’re back!”  
During her monolog, his eyes had grown and he looked as if he constantly tried to say “Good Lord!” but he remained silent. So much had changed and she surely was giving him the abridged version of the events. The only thing that he was familiar with was her voice. Somehow, it soothed him that she still sputtered out every thought at once. A habit that he found also quite endearing, he admitted himself.  
He shook his head in wonder and smiled at her coyly. “I think my brain needs some time to adjust to everything you just told me but I’m also glad to be back! It looks as if Angel has left to warn the others about my youthful appearance,” he joked.  
“Yeah,” Willow confirmed, “we don’t want them to lose their speech when they are so keen to give you a welcome!”

In the living room, Angel was trying to minimize the commotion.  
“I didn’t say he’s back wrong, Spike! I just mentioned the fact that you might have remembered him differently,” he snarled at the blonde vampire.  
“Okay, that’s enough,” Buffy shouted. No one dared to make a sound. Thankfully, the door opened and a beaming Willow peeked in. “Hey, get ready to greet an old friend!”  
Everyone held their breath and Xander hastily threw one arm before his eyes. When Giles finally appeared behind Willow, they let out sounds of surprise. Xander could not take it anymore. With his eyes still closed, he fiercely waved into the direction of the door with the other arm. “Wait - you still have everything in place, no nose attached to your foot or something like that?” 

“Definitely not,” Giles laughed and Xander felt someone slapping his arm. He supposed it was Dawn. Giles is laughing, Xander thought. At my joke! O God, what’s wrong with him?  
Slowly, very slowly, he opened his eyes and lowered his arm. What he saw was Giles in the center of a group hug.  
A group hug!  
His anxiety dropped and he joined them instantly.


	9. Chapter 9

The whole lot sat down on the sofas by the fireplace and looked expectantly at Giles. “So,” Buffy started, “how do you feel? Is it weird? Cuz, I felt totally weird… But… that was something completely different back then,” she could feel Willow’s uneasiness and, turning to her best friend, assured her “also long forgiven, really!”  
Before Giles could say anything, Buffy went on again. “Besides, what’s also different is that somehow you came back younger! You look like you’ve turned 30-something again – that’s good, right?”  
Giles had tried to reply several times but he couldn’t beat Buffy’s excitement. To everybody’s surprise, it was Spike who calmed her down. He gently laid his hands on her shoulders and chuckled: “Yep, that’s great! But maybe you could give Rupert a chance to answer as long as he’s still young?”  
Buffy’s face reddened for a second. “Oh, right! I’m sorry! Please, talk!”  
Giles watched the intimate display of affection between his former Slayer and the vampire he once wanted to have killed. It seemed so far back and Spike had proved himself a reliable ally at last and had even been willing to die saving the world…  
The expectant stares of everyone in the room became nearly physical, so Giles shot them all an apologizing smile and finally responded to Buffy’s questions.  
“Yes… Well, I feel great – though it is a bit confusing, indeed. The last thing I remember is a sudden pain in my neck and then…” he hesitated, “… then everything felt like a dream.” He turned to face Angel, who was standing next to Kennedy and Faith. “I was with you, Angel, and Faith. You both have gone through great lengths to bring me back,” his voice was very sincere. “Thank you!”  
Angel ducked his face. “I’m just glad it worked!”  
“Yeah,” Faith joined him, “we couldn’t just let you stay dead when it was clearly a mighty mystical mojo that killed you! And hey, of course I’ll give you back what you gave me in your will… How did it come to that, anyway?”  
Giles lifted his hands in a defensive gesture. “No, Faith. I gave it to you and now you keep it, please. When my essence was with you on your journey, I could feel that you and Angel have done good things with the money. You’ve grown up and I’m very proud of you!”  
Faith swallowed heavily. “That’s… cool,” she stammered and was glad that Kennedy chose that moment to embrace her. Bad enough that Ken knew her softer side – the others were not supposed to see her tearing up like a sissy. 

Though the witch was very happy and didn’t want to miss their first reunion with Giles, she was also completely exhausted. The evening had already turned into a late night but everybody seemed so relaxed that she had not the heart to leave yet. She sat next to Dawn who looked just as happy and just as tired as Willow.  
“Well, Dawnie?” she brushed a stray lock of dark brown hair out of Dawn’s face. “How are you holding up?”  
The younger woman gave her a weak smile and a thumbs-up then let her head loll back against Xander’s shoulder and fell asleep.  
Xander felt it and placed a light kiss on her head. “She’s still weak but getting better every day,” he informed her in a low voice as not to wake her. Giles gave them a concerned look. Only half an hour ago, Dawn had enthusiastically told him about her good grades at college and that she wanted to study ancient languages at university after her graduation. It was nearly impossible for him to believe what they had told him: that her life actually depends on magic – the seed of magic. The new seed would need time, centuries perhaps, until it gained the size of its destroyed predecessor but it was planted and obviously enough to keep alive a mystical key in a human form. 

He involuntarily smiled when his eyes grazed Willow who looked as if she was about to follow Dawn suit. She and Buffy had saved not only Dawn but also the whole planet. Again. The downside of the short period without any magic at all was that from now on there would only be one Slayer at a time again. Minus the ones who were already activated by the spell before. Strangely, a similar thing had happened to the vampire population: The ones who were already vampires were just that – but every human they bit to sire them turned out to be something far more terrible, something even vampires couldn’t stand. Zompires. He shook his head. What else had changed during his absence? 

It was late after midnight when the chattering tided down. Willow, Dawn and Xander had already dosed off. The sight was amusing: Each of Dawn’s shoulders served as a pillow for Willow and Xander; Dawn’s head leaned on the back of the couch. The only ones who showed no signs of tiredness were the Slayers and the two vampires. Giles yawned. “I’m sorry but I think I’ll need to sleep as well.”  
Buffy winked at him: “Sure! Sleep is the fountain of youth, young man!”  
He snorted but seemed nonetheless flattered. Faith gave him her patent-worthy smirk: “I said it back then and though I’m playing for the other team now, I’ll say it again: Young and handsome!”  
Giles tried his best to look uptight and British. “I really appreciate your pleasantries but that’s enough or I’ll start piquing myself on them,” but his eyes twinkled and he seemed only slightly embarrassed.  
Kennedy had joined the two vampires who had their brows raised at this and perhaps for the first time in her life, she was in complete agreement with them. “Believe me, I don’t get it either,” she whispered and shook her head.  
Spike had occasionally opened his mouth but the warning side glance from Angel let him bite his tongue. It was definitely time to go kick some bad asses outside, to let some steam off.  
“Well,” Kennedy said out loud, “maybe it’s time we hit the streets and see what we get killed on our way home!” She still loved to be a Slayer, even if the scales had turned and some demons now lived as persons in town. They hadn’t wanted to overwhelm Giles with the exact details of the series of Magical-Seed-mishaps right away. Zompires were enough for a start… He would find out soon enough what was also going on out there.  
Faith laid her arm around Kennedy’s waist. “Sure, babe! I’m with ya!”  
Spike nodded in the direction of the sleeping trio. “What about the pirate and the nibblet?”  
“Don’t they look cute when they’re sleeping?” Buffy whispered.  
“Well, let them just stay,” Giles suggested. “I’m sure, Willow wouldn’t mind…”  
“No, she wouldn’t,” Buffy told him, “but Xander would probably mind. He’s got a job downtown tomorrow. We’ll make sure they get home safe, right?” She raised an eyebrow at the two vampires. They answered simultaneously.  
“Uh... Sure!”  
“Yeah, of course!”  
Afterwards there was a tense moment where they exchanged gloomy looks. “Bug King!” Angel snorted. “Stupid hair!” Spike retorted. Buffy rolled their eyes heavenwards and sighed. Everyone else in the room began to take serious interest in the interiors of the room.  
The blonde Slayer gently knocked Dawn on her shoulder. “Hey little sis, it’s time to wake up!”  
Dawn made an unpleasant noise and blinked her eyes open. She gave Buffy a mildly reproachful look and yawned. Finally, she realized where she was.  
“Oops, o my God… I totally thought we were at home!” She hinted an apologizing smile at Giles. “I’m so sorry that we dozed off. – Hey Xan, Wil… Wake up!”  
“Ugh… That’s a bit embarrassing,” Xander said, “though for my defense: It’s even harder to keep just one eye open when you’re tired as hell!”  
“That’s quite alright,” Giles assured them, “you all had long days – and unlike the Slayers, we really depend on getting our nightly sleep.”  
“Still,” Willow uncurled her neck, “we’ll get you a nice welcome party asap!”  
“Hey,” Buffy chimed in, “we could have a big party when we’re moving in!”  
“That’s fine with me,” Giles yawned and stretched his stiff back. He was awfully tired. 

When they all had left, Willow yawned again. “I’m really glad I gave you the big tour some hours ago, I can’t seem to even point at things properly!”  
Giles mirrored her sleepy grin. “Yes, I can quite relate! Thank you again, for everything. Good night, Willow.”  
“’Night. Oh, and you know the saying: The first dream you have in a new home is supposed to come true.”  
Giles was already at his door but turned around. “I’ll try to have a good one, then!”


	10. Chapter 10

Orange sunshine pushed through foggy clouds. It was warm and the air smelled of salty seawater.  
He remembered a holiday-trip with his parents to the coastline of South Devon, England. Sea gulls and clotted cream. For three long days, it had been paradise. Until the Council called for his father and they all had to return to London. 

Suddenly, the fog lifted and from a distance, he could see a long, winding beach. He zoomed in on a strange figure, a bunch of moving colors – blue, green, white, red… It was a snake, no… a woman. It hit him. Aluwyn. He caught glimpses of freckled skin against blue one. Red hair entangled amidst a mane of white. Willow. He gasped. The orange light was not coming from the sun; it emerged from the lovemaking couple. The sight of them was disturbingly arousing. He tried to look away but found it nearly impossible to shun the pictures he had already in his mind. Willow in that "ghost"-costume she had worn on Halloween so many years ago, Willow’s vampire alter-ego, Willow, when she wanted to end the world and after that, when she had turned into an adult before her time… This had to stop! 

Please let me wake up, soon! Even the voice in his mind sounded shaky. Finally, the picture vanished and he stared into the dark green eyes of the snake-demon. His mind was racing and he felt like he had trespassed a sacred place. “You must be Giles,” he heard her say without moving her lips. Her bare breasts were scarcely covered by her long, white hair.  
“Um,” he managed to say. 

She smiled and held out a green hand.  
“I’m Aluwyn but I guess you know that. Willow told me that you were smart.”  
Automatically, Giles took her hand and shook it. It felt surprisingly soft.  
“Um… I’m… I’m sorry… I didn’t come here on purpose…”

“Of course not,” she told him, “no man’s ever entered Wonderland on his own will. I took what your subconscious offered me to have a look at you.” Giles expression was one big question mark. A slightly confused question mark that obviously had a problem with naked female parts. He made an effort to regain his composure. “But… uh… Why would you…”  
She sighed. The male human didn’t strike her as the smartest person. Still, Willow seemed to be very fond of him, whether she knew it or not. She assumed it was the latter. He didn’t seem to have a clue, but there was a connection between him and her darling Willow. It hurt a bit, even more so because he was just a human with only mere hints of magic floating under his skin. 

She sighed again, inwardly, and decided not to act weird about Willow’s choice. After all, she had been the one trespassing into this poor guy’s dream. “What you see is only a fraction of Willow’s memory. And quite a good one,” she added approvingly. Her eyes flashed up. “But you made it easy for me, with your dream – it looks that some part of you…” She looked down on him and he blushed furiously “… wanted to see her.”  
He looked so utterly embarrassed and helpless that she took pity on him. 

He was somewhat cute – not that she ever cared to go there but she could see why Willow liked him. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell her about it. I was just curious and wanted to see the person that is so important to Will, that she even broke her own promise.” 

“Her… own… pr.. promise?” Giles stuttered.  
She was already much farther away from him now and turned her head over her shoulder to answer him. “Never to resurrect someone again.” He shuddered from the hissing in her voice.  
Now the fog was gone and he heard sea gulls laughing.  
The winding coastline had disappeared and it was Devon again. He inhaled the tangy air – and coughed, when he spotted a red haired woman standing in the shallow water. He had made no move, yet he was with her in an instant. 

“Finally,” Willow exclaimed and turned around. “I’ve been waiting for you.”  
Before he could say something, she flung her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss him.

Giles woke up with a start. His heart was drumming against his drenched t-shirt. He took long, even breaths and stared at the window. It was already dawning. He groaned with frustration and lust and buried his head in his shaking hands.


	11. Chapter 11

When Willow plopped down onto her bed, she had the odd feeling that she was already dreaming. There was a stage but the curtain was closed. _Oh no_ , she thought, _not a stage dream again…_

She looked around but could not see anybody else in the dimly lit auditorium. Suddenly, she heard a deep growling. She expected it to come from behind the curtain and observed the deep red cloth. Something touched her shoulder. She jolted around, ready to scream a hex to whatever was attacking her, when she choked. There was no monster, there was only… “Giles?!?” 

“Yes, Willow, it’s me. Don’t be frightened. You’re safe. I have read all the books and know how to deal with him!”  
“Deal with whom? What are you talking about?”  
“Hush… He is here somewhere. Probably on stage, it’s getting late, already.”  
Willow was confused. “Who, Giles? And late for what?”  
“Angelus. He is lingering here somewhere… He must never come back, Willow. He killed Jenny and he will have Angel suffer forever when we can’t kill him.”  
“We?” she whispered. “Why, Giles, that’s what I’m going to do, soon.”  
“You’ll need a book,” he stated. 

Willow was getting annoyed.  
“Yes, I know that. I’ve already had a dream about ensouling Angel. Why…”  
“I’m an aspect of you, of course,” he lectured her. “After all, I’m in _your_ dream. I thought you’ve read everything about the subconscious when you were taking **Psyche 101** back in College?” In the end, his voice sounded not like Giles’ anymore, but very much like her mother’s. “O my… What is this all about?”   
  
Giles (for it was still Giles) had climbed on the vacant seats one row beneath Willow’s. He emphasized each word of his answer with a silly hop along the armrests. “It’s – about, for example, – why – am – I – in – tweed?” He stopped and smiled at her like he had just given her the solution to a very difficult riddle.   
  
Willow felt her blood creeping into her face. “Whoa… I… I have no idea… I mean, yeah, I admit it’s a bit weird… but, but that isn’t important right now at all, isn’t it? I thought you wanted to stop Angelus from emerging again, so…. So none of that other stuff is… helping now. And if you are me, how come…”   
  
Her babbling was cut off by a strange sound. This time, she was sure that it came from the stage. The curtain was drawn and she could see a dark figure in front of a papier-mâché grave. Somehow, she was able to zoom in and read Angel’s name and date of birth. The spotlight panned over and Willow recognized Angel. When he made a move, he reduplicated himself, so there were two Angels on the stage now. One of them smirked coldly whereas the other turned to face Willow and gave her a pleading look. _Okay, not so big with the subtle hints._ “I get it,” she shouted, “I’ll start with the ensouling thing tomorrow!”   
  
“There’s more,” she heard another voice. It belonged to Tara… no, Giles… _How much more absurd can it get?!?_ When she looked at the source of the voice, she saw them both like two stencils merging into one. Then they just went blurry.   
  
Willow felt how her throat went very dry. Her voice sounded like she had eaten chalk. “I… I… What is it?” The blurry fog answered in a strange multi-layered voice.   
  
“It’s about William and Liam. They have to heal and to forgive. Then they will be rewarded for good. But before that, they will need to go on a long journey, together, with the one who sired William. She is hurting. They will have to make amends first. We know that this does not concern you directly but we felt that you are about to give Liam back his soul for sure. We chose you to deliver the message to them. Will you do it?”   
  
“We? Who’s the we? What about my dream and… and all its protagonists are aspects of the dreamer? Is this my way of telling me that I should see a psychologist?” The multi-layered voice chuckled. “We are the Powers that Be. You planted the new Seed of Wonder into your dimension but it is still too young to give us the powers…” the voice stopped for a second, maybe to consider rephrasing. “… We can only appear in dreams... _or to psychic people_. But you are quite sane - and a mighty witch by the way.” “Um… thanks. Well… Er... Okay. I’ll let them know… You are talking about Angel and Spike, right? Just to be sure?” But she got no response. The lights went off and she awoke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee.


	12. Chapter 12

Willow decided to get up and join Giles for some coffee. It felt good, to share her flat with someone again. She took a quick shower, got dressed and headed to the kitchen.  
“Hi Giles,” she greeted him and stopped in the doorframe. Giles had obviously been awake for a while now – the table was set with fresh rolls and croissants. He eyed her from behind the large newspaper he had bought. “Hello,” he answered him in a soft, slightly trembling voice. “I hope I didn’t wake you?”  


“No, not at all. Wow, Giles… It’s your first day in a new town and you’ve already managed to organize breakfast? Thank you!”

He gave her a warm smile and set the paper aside. “Yes, well… That’s the least I can do… I’m glad when I can do something for you as well. I… Faith left me a purse with some money and… um… I thought it would be nice if I…” his voice died as he watched her looking expectantly at him.  


“You didn’t sleep well?” Willow asked. To Giles, it sounded more like a conclusion.  


He exhaled with a short laugh. “Well… I had a rather… vivid dream and I woke up quite early.”  
He was fidgeting around with is glasses, hoping Willow wouldn’t ask further questions concerning his dream. He got up and reached for another cup.  
“I figured it would be best if I just stayed awake and got to know the neighborhood. There’s a nice bakery down the block. Coffee?”  


“Um… Yes, thank you!” Willow’s brow crinkled. “Uh… If you’ve been to the bakery, I guess, you’ve met Mr. K’wasu?”  
Giles kept his cool. “You mean the K’waisulak demon behind the desk?”  
She could not see his face because he was pouring coffee into her cup. When he looked up, he gave her a half smile. “Yes. He appears to be a decent guy. I was a bit… taken aback at his sight, as you might imagine. He recognized your key chain and asked if I was a friend of yours. He then recommended buying croissants and a weekly."  
His voice sounded a tiny bit testy at the end.  


Willow felt caught. She gave a nervous laugh. “Hehe, yeah, that’s Mr. K’wasu… Er… There have been some changes in your absence…”  
“So I’ve noticed.”  


“Please, Giles, don’t be mad. We thought it might be easier for you to digest if… Well, we haven’t wanted to spoil the evening with demon-y things…”  
“I understand,” he said. His voice was gentle again.  
“Really?” She needed to be sure. Messing up with a roomie who was just resurrected wasn’t a good thing to happen!  
“Really!” He assured her. “Although, a little heads-up wouldn’t have hurt. I have been a watcher for nearly a decade. You could have given me some credit.” She flinched but when he handed her the cup, he gave her a wink.  


***

“I’m glad you understand,” Willow told him while she delightedly reached for a second croissant. The coffee was perfect, he had even managed to foam the oat milk.  
Giles put down his glasses and wiped them over the hem of his shirt. “Well, since I couldn’t find neither dairy nor meaty in the fridge but a lot of soy and seitan, I just assumed that you’ve become a vegan. And the experience in the bakery just confirmed that.” Giles gazed dreamily into the room. It was a relief for Willow to see that he was still fascinated by anything that wasn’t exactly ordinary.

“I’ve read about those demons during my training as a watcher and would never have expected a K’waisulak in a big city. According to the articles I’ve studied, they live in the country, near windmills. What an odd idea for a K’waisulak demon to open a vegan bakery...”

“Um… Why odd?” Willow asked him. “I mean, when they were already fond of flour back then…”  
“Oh, because they not so much used to feed on the flour but on the miller.”

Willow looked shocked. “O my goddess! That’s so… gross!” She shook her head: “But Mr. K’waisulak is a vegan! He’s like totally and absolutely meat-free!”

“I believe you, Willow. As I said, he seems to be a decent guy. I guess that – whatever exactly has happened after the destruction of the Seed – most of the demons try to get along with the humans. Those who have the capacity, that is.”

“Yes, that is true. We are still not sure what happened and why…. We were able to reduce the population of the zombie vampires, though. And we’ve observed that there aren’t new ones coming up since we’ve planted the new seed. Somehow, the absence of magic must have created them. Even though that kinda makes no sense,” she admitted.  


He sighed. “What does?”


	13. Chapter 13

After strolling around and having the keys for the house duplicated in the mall, they took the train downtown to the State Library. Of course, he liked it. He even considered applying for a job as a librarian for a moment. Willow looked at him doubtfully.

“What?”  
“Oh, nothing! It’s just… I kinda liked it when you had your own *magic* shop...”  
“You mean you liked it because you helped yourself with most of the ingredients,” he eyed her with raised eyebrows in mock disapproval.

He expected her to be slightly indignant about it, even though – technically – it was the truth. Willow’s reaction, however, was far from anything like it. She broke into a huge smile and jumped up and down in front of him. “Oooh, the hairy eyeball! Giles, you wouldn’t believe how much I missed those!”

“Er…” He shook his head and smiled back. “You’re right, I wouldn’t have thought… But I do remember how you told me, once.”  
“Yeah, me too.”

For some minutes, they fell into a comfortable silence. Then Willow’s phone vibrated.  
“It’s a message from Buffy,” she told Giles. “She’s expecting us for her lunch break. Are you still up to it?”  
“Hm? Oh, yes, of course.”  
“Good!”

Willow felt a bit bad for withholding the Angel-issue from Giles. She would have to talk to him, eventually. After all, in her dream Tara had been referring to a book from his collection. Surely, he would know where to find it. And then there was this weird part of her dream, this prophecy about Spike, Angel and Drusilla. Giles certainly would want to know about that!  
But she wanted to let Buffy know, first.

“I will have to make up my mind, you know,” he told her.  
Startled, Willow snapped out of her thoughts. “Sorry, what?”  
“Well, about my career. I left Faith with all my money” – at this, he quickly caught a meaningful glance from Willow and he swore that he could hear her thinking _**`yeah, what was that all about?´**_ –  
“… and I don’t want to become a burden to any of you – please, let me finish.”

Willow closed her mouth again and Giles went on. “I think it’s a good thing. I don’t feel burdened with my watcher-duties anymore. I’m not saying that I won’t be fighting against evil but I feel like I have a choice. That makes a great difference.”

It took Willow some seconds to comprehend what Giles had just told her. He was having an honest conversation with her. She flinched. She wanted nothing more than having the talk with Buffy already to get to be open with Giles again.

Well, not so much open as to tell him that her subconscience had brought up her long forgotten High-School crush on him but still…

When they arrived at the gym, Buffy was already waiting for them, literally bouncing with anticipation.  
“Welcome to our gym that teaches self-defense for girls and women and everyone in between,” she exclaimed proudly and ushered them inside the building.  
“Thank you, Buffy! It looks amazing!”

Buffy’s face lit up even more. “Wait till you’ve seen the pool and the sauna! – O Giles, can you believe it? I have a job that doesn’t include waiting tables or cashing up burgers!”  
It delighted him to see her in such a good mood. She deserved to have at least some steadiness in her life.  
“And you’re teaching?” He asked.

“Yes! It’s even fun! Plus, it pays my bills! And sometimes, I take the girls out on a field trip. Well, only the potentials, not the ones that come here for the self-defense-classes.”  
“I see. I think it’s an excellent career choice, Buffy!”

“Thank you! It was actually Kennedy’s idea – well, and her parent’s money that paid for the equipment,” she added. Willow noticed Giles flinching at that for a split second but before he could say anything, the new happy couple popped up to greet them.

Kennedy was eager to give Giles `the big tour´, so Willow took the chance to talk alone with Buffy.  
"Buffy, can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Sure! What’s with the secretiveness?”

“It’s about Angel…”


	14. Chapter 14

“Wow,” said Buffy and gulped.  
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, too,” Willow agreed.  
“It’s just… I mean, not that I wouldn’t want Angel to be happy – and not that I’m not tempted by the thought of him and me being together…”  
Willow raised her eyebrows. “I feel a big **but** coming up…”

The blonde Slayer shook her head in disbelief. “Yeah, I actually can’t believe it myself **but** ” – she gave a short laugh – “I still have kinda *fluffy* feelings for Spike and… I know, we’ve never like gone steady or anything but I’ve been missing him while he was on his crazy space journey and… and also I’ve been getting so used to the whole `sex-with-Angel-equals-badness´-thing that I’m… I’m not sure how to cope with the news, Will!”

The red head nodded. “I get it, I think. That’s why I wanted to talk with you about this before I do anything… But I kinda promised Angel to do it… He was… he was so unhappy that night right before we did the resurrection spell. I needed him to be calm and in a good mood and suddenly I remembered a spell that could install his soul… The prospect of that… or you… made him happy again.” She looked very contrite.

Buffy ran her fingers through her hair. “O my… O Will… Why can’t we all just have boring lives? Or boring lovers, for a start?”

“Well… I tried that once or twice but it just didn’t do it for me,” Willow joked. “And neither does it for you, Buff!”  
“Yeah, yeah, you’re right… And just for the record: I’m happy for Angel when he finally gets de-cursed. I mean, Angelus is just appallingly evil and not to ban him from Angel would come close to negligent homicide… So, if you’re asking for my approval, you officially got it!”  
“Thank you,” Willow muttered into Buffy’s hair as they shared a hug.  


She suddenly wanted to tell her about her dream as well – not all of it, of course. _I’ll leave out the part where Giles was hopping along the seats_ , she thought. _And also the part where he asked me why he was dressed in tweed… And maybe I just leave him out completely_ , she decided.  


“Um,” Willow started when they had stopped hugging, “there’s more…”  
“There’s more? What is it?”  
“Well… I had a strange dream last night. There were odd colors and voices that told me they were `The Powers That Be´ and… and they were speaking about Angel and Spike. Only, they referred to them with their names they had when they were humans.” She glanced over at Buffy.  
“Go on, please!”

“Okay! They told me that Liam and William were to be rewarded but they needed to forgive and take a quest together...”  
Buffy was staring at her with wide eyes.  
“… With the one who sired Willi- I mean, Spike. That would be Drusilla, right?” Willow asked.  
“U-huh,” Buffy nodded. She looked as if she was in a shock.  


“Buffy… I know it’s a lot... Are you okay, though?” _Please, be okay!_  
That seemed to snap Buffy out of her state of weirdness. “I guess…” She grabbed Willow’s arm to steady her shaky legs.  


“Easy, Buff! Here, let’s sit down for a while.”  


She led Buffy to a heap of gym mats next to the wall and patted her shoulder. “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have dropped the news onto you like this, not all at once!”  
Buffy took some deep breaths and shook her head. “No, it’s okay, I’m fine – I’m gonna be!” Her friend didn’t seem convinced.  
“Will! It’s a good thing you told me. It really is. I’ll deal. And, hey, it’s a nice prophecy for a change…”  
They sat there for a short while without saying anything.

“Have you told Giles about this?” Buffy finally asked.  
Willow’s cheeks turned pink. “Um… No, not yet. I wanted you to know, first. Besides, Giles has to deal with so much right now. I mean, it’s his first day in San Francisco and he already had to swallow the fact that there are some demons openly living among humans now and that there are zompires and vampires and that everything is different.”

Buffy was just about to say something to cheer Willow up when, suddenly, a smile appeared on her friend's face. The Slayer new her best friend well enough to see that Willow was obviously thrilled about something.  
“This morning, he just did the greatest thing: He got up early to buy breakfast! Even though he had no idea where he was! Well, he used the map on his smartphone but still! And he bought rolls and croissants at Mr. K’wasu’s and – and he even suspected that I had gone vegan just by observing the fridge! And there was orange juice and he has no problems with soy and he even wants to try his tea with a shot of oat milk! Isn’t that just great?” Willow beamed.  


Her enthusiastic patter caused Buffy to make a face. “Jeez, Will. You’re not crushing on our favorite ex-watcher?!” The teasing earned her a shellshocked face from Willow. “What?! Hey! Me? No! Cuz, `gay now,´ remember??”  
Buffy chuckled. “Will, relax! I’m just kidding! I’m glad that he’s back, too!”  


Willow felt the heat that had suddenly shot up her face slowly creeping down her body.  
“Oh,” she said and was glad that Buffy seemed distracted by her own thoughts.  
“Maybe I’m just jealous that you got breakfast made by your roommate! Oh, but maybe you can make him keep this habit, and when I’ve moved in, I can come down every morning to have breakfast with you!”  


“Well, perhaps if we turn shifts,” Giles let her know. He was leaning in on the doorframe and Willow could only hope that he had just arrived… Kennedy and Faith peeked in as well. “There you are. The next course is about to start and some of the girls are already here.”


	15. Chapter 15

It was late when they finally got back into Willow’s, no, _their_ home. They had even been at Buffy’s place, where was introduced to her roommates and very possibly future neighbors. Nice young people, Anaheed, Tumbler and his boyfriend, Pete. They had not told them about Giles’ resurrection, only that he was an old friend who had spent the last year back in England.

On their way home, they came across Spike and a guy that Giles had not met before. But he seemed to know Willow quite well. “Willow! I haven’t seen you around much, lately. Is everything alright?” “Yeah, no big bad in sight,” she told him. “Um, since you’re both here already, I’d like to introduce you – Nick Burkhardt, this is Giles, Rupert Giles, Nick… Nick is the detective I’ve mentioned before… And Giles, he… well…”

“I owned a book shop in Sunnydale,” he helped her out and took Nick’s hand, “it’s nice to meet you.” Nick took his hand and gave him a warm smile: “My pleasure.” Spike made face at Willow and she could actually hear him think: *So, Nick doesn’t know the whole story?*

Barely noticeable she shook her head. *Not yet. We don’t know him well enough.*

*He’s a decent chap,* Spike thought back.

Willow sighed. *I guess he is. Spike, I need to talk to you about some weird stuff. But not tonight, Giles must be super tired.*

The vampire looked concerned. *Sure, Red. Is it bad?*

*No, don’t worry. It’s rather… good. Sorry to give you the cliffhanger.*

*Well, okay then. When will you tell me? Cuz, since you brought it up, I’ve been dreaming some weird stuff these last days.*

Willow gave him a skeptical look. *Really? What about?*

*You know what? I’ll call you later and we’ll have a decent, verbal chat about it. Giles looks as if he’s about to fall asleep on the streets*

Willow had to admit that Spike was right. “…You sound British,” they heard Nick say, when they stopped their telepathically conversation. “Yes, quite right. I’m from Bath, originally.” Nick’s face lit up. “Really, Bath? My aunt moved there from Germany and loved it!” He caught Spike’s uneasy look and decided to end the chat. “Well, it was sure nice meeting you, Mr. Giles”, he said. “Likewise”, Giles could barely cushion a yawn. “Sorry”, he laughed apologizing. Willow patted his arm. “That’s alright. After all, you’ve just arrived here and it’s been a very long day! Let’s get you home!”

Back in the house, Giles was so overwhelmed with the impressions of the day that he only managed kick off his trousers and fall onto his mattress.

Willow, on the other hand, was far away from turning into sleeping-mode. She had a long conversation with Spike on the smartphone. He really did have weird dreams that also included Drusilla and something about sunshine and daisies but he sut himself off at that point. Willow could only hope that he kept his promise not to tell Angel about the quest right away. Seeing what the news had done to Buffy was enough for one day! 

At least the book problem seemed to solve by itself: Giles and Faith had come to an agreement concerning the remnants of his old library. Willow could still hear Faith saying: “Really, it’s cool, Giles! Cuz me? So not the bookworm type!”

Willow shook her head as she reflected on that moment. _Nope, definitively not bookwormy._

Faith promised to email the girls that now lived in Giles’s former cottage. There he had stored his rare collection of books before Sunnydale had turned into a crater. Anyhow, she was looking forward to receiving a container full of books shipped from London. After the thing with Moloch the Corruptor, alias Malcolm, Giles had withheld all books from scanning that might have a similar content. She was pretty sure that the book she needed for the spell was among those in England. For the boxes to arrive, it would approximately take some weeks but Willow felt that she might need the time to sort out everything. She quickly texted Angel a message to tell him about the book shipping.  
She decided that the other stuff was face to face information. But at first she had to talk to Giles.

Giles woke with a start. “Bloody hell!”  
He was thankful that he could not remember any details from his dream but he was quite sure that Willow had appeared in it. Again. _This is not good._  
Okay then, a cold shower and a brisk walk to the bakery, as he had done the day before. She had been so pleased with his little surprise. His grin faded. Surely, she wouldn’t suspect anything if he repeated the gesture? _No, what should she be suspecting? There is nothing to suspect! I’m just having trouble sleeping, that’s all. Everything is new and… exciting. There’s nothing wrong about that. I’m fine!_

 _Giles made breakfast, again?_ “Wow, Giles...”  
He held up his hands: “I, uh, I can imagine that this seems odd to you but I assure you, I just need some time to adjust… to be able to sleep through… I only hope my earliness doesn’t bother you?”

“Bother me? Are you kidding? It’s just… I’m starting to feel like a bad roomie…”  
“Oh please don’t! It will pass… I mean, I’m not saying that from now on I’ll never do anything kitchen related again – I can cook, by the way, I’m just saying that… I enjoy these morning walks. And… I’m sure that pretty soon, I’ll have a new routine… Um… So. There you go.”

He wasn’t quite sure if he had just made much sense.  
Willow approached the decorated table with a huge smile.  
“Really, if I had known how great it is having you as a roommate, I would have shared a flat with you way earlier!”

He smiled into his cup.  
“So,” she started, tearing away a chunk from her croissant, “I forgot to ask you yesterday – wanna tell me about the dream you were having?”

Her question was answered with a loud hissing from Giles.  
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, wiping away the last remnants of his spilled coffee from the chair. He hoped that Willow could not see how he was still blushing by the mere thought of his dream. A voice popped inside his head that could have belonged to either Cordelia or Anya: Overreacting much?!?  
Willow furrowed her brows. “Um, are you okay? Here’s a tissue…”  
Giles took it from her and gave her an apologetic look. “Thank you.”  
She smiled back. “Must have been some dream, huh? Oh, don’t worry, you don’t need to tell me… I’m just sorry it wasn’t a nice one.” She made a face as if she was feeling responsible for his _bad_ dream.  
“Um, Willow, it wasn’t a bad dream, not per se. I’d just rather not… talk about it. But what about _you_?”  
_Me??_ she shrieked in her head. “Um…” She said, tightening her grip on the cup.  
“Well… It’s been a weird one – the night before, actually… But I guess, I should talk about it, anyway.

After inspecting his chair for any remnants of spilled coffee, he sat down again and took off his glasses to clean them, too.  
“Please, tell me.”  
She took another sip from the hot beverage and began to let Giles in on the plan to ensoul Angel for sure and about the prophecy. He took it better than she thought. “You’re telling me that I was in the possession of a book that might have cured Angel right away? I can’t believe it… How…”  
“I don’t know how, Giles. But I’m quite sure that it wouldn’t have us done anything good back then. I wasn’t ready then, none of us was. It might even be that this book just… I don’t know, somehow came into this world… The world is in the middle of forming itself anew. Everything is possible.”

“Yes, well, has it occurred to you that this might be a trap? Having these kind of dreams… Luring us into false hopes... “ he stopped and blushed. “What I mean is… I mean..”

She was staring at him with orb-like eyes. The innocence in them was back. How was this possible?  
“Giles. The spell is real. I remembered it – well, parts of it. I can’t explain how or why but I just know, you know? So, no trap there. The other thing, the quest, well… I’m not sure yet. I’ll find out, though. Or - or Buffy will. There is a place, called the Netherrealms. But I’m pretty sure that it’s not a trap. It’s about shifting the balance. Spike called me yesterday. He had a similar dream. So I think it is real and it is important.”


	16. Chapter 16

Concerning Giles, the next weeks passed by in a haze. Things were processing so fast that he had to blink sometimes to make sure that it wasn’t just a dream. He tried to get the many events in order but gave up soon, for so much had happened at the same time…

The house was now full of people. Buffy, Tumbler and Pete had moved in, although they took the flat opposite to Buffy’s. Anaheed, however, did not move in. She had decided to dare backpacking through Europe instead. Dawn and Xander took the apartment on the second floor, facing Willow’s and his. The third floor was still empty but it could wait.

Nick was helping Buffy and her former roommates with the removal. After all, he explained to Giles, Buffy had helped the police quite a lot during the zompire crisis. “I see”, Giles replied, but couldn’t help thinking that Nick’s motive might be of a more personal nature. And yet, Spike doesn’t seem to mind, he wondered. Sometimes he even got the impression that the vampire was urging Nick on to make a move towards the Slayer.

On the morning of the big commotion, one hour before the removal van with Buffy’s furniture was to arrive, Giles took the chance of a peaceful morning walk. Of course, he had had this dream again. So he was desperate to have some minutes for himself before he had to face the others. In his confusion, he passed the bakery without even noticing it. Mr. K’waisulak did and wondered; but since he had customers to care for, he just shrugged.

Giles nearly ran over a folding chalkboard that someone had placed right in his path. He let out a small scream – more because he was surprised than of his hurting ankle. Then he deciphered the spidery handwriting on the board. It said: _If you enjoy the company of books and are not allergic to cats and no idiot whatsoever, you may want to come inside and take that job!_.

Despite his irritation that he had managed to get lost on the big day of the relocation, this sign made him laugh. The shop itself reminded him of those little shops that stood penned up along the small streets in Notting Hill. The front was made of wood, painted in dark green and had antique looking ornaments carved into it. There was also a small coffee table and a carvings was painted in dark green The large windows appeared to be inviting, although they didn’t give much insight to the shop because they were covered in dust. He bent down to have a closer look at the colorful stickers on the glass when the door flew open. “Found something you like?” “Well, sir, actually, I just got here by chance and…” he looked up: „…Miss… Mrs… Mz?” Giles stammered. There was a long pause between them.

Giles was somewhat taken aback by the person that had so suddenly appeared in the doorframe. From the sound of the voice he could have sworn it was a male person that had addressed him. Yet this person wore a skirt and a white top with a pink unicorn print on it. And suddenly, he realized the colorful sticker that stuck on the door: A rainbow and a large heart with the letters LGBT on it. The person from the shop broke the silence. “You’re not someone who was sent by a religious group to straighten our sinful ways, no?” Giles relaxed. “No, absolutely not!” The other person smiled at him broadly: “Good! Cuz it would be a shame…” Giles flushed. “Um, thank you.. em..” “Ooooh, silly me! You’re here for the job, then! Please, do come in!” He held there door wide open and beckoned him in with a feather duster that he had kept hidden behind his back. “I’m about to be Lucy, by the way. I’d really appreciate it if you called me that.” “Of course, Lucy. I’m Giles, Rupert Giles… Good Lord, have you just been robbed?“ The shelves were still stuffed with books but the rest was a mess.

„Ah…“, Lucy said, „no, that were some homophobic morons. My auntie had a heart attack on that day!” “I’m… I’m really sorry”, Giles commented.

“Yeah well, that’s why she is looking for a new assistant. Someone who might scare those idiots off. I forgot to mention that the shop belongs to her. I’m just here to help her with the worst but I have to be back in New York by next week, spring break’s nearly over… You sound British, by the way.”

Giles smiled. “Yes, that’s right. Originally, I’m from Bath… Listen, um… I was supposed to get breakfast for a bunch of people at a big relocation this morning but… I would leave my number and your aunt can just call me when she’s back again. And also…”, he looked around and shook his head, “I’ll ask some friends to help you clean up the mess – that is, if you want?” Lucy had wanted.

The others were truly happy for Giles and only grumbled shortly when he asked them to help with the shop that evening – “Only if you are not too tired, of course?” “Hey, three Slayers here remember?!” – Which was exactly the kind of reply he had secretly hoped for. Willow and the two boys were eager to see the shop ( _“How come we’ve never heard of it before?!?”_ ).

He had also met Lucy’s aunt, Maureen, and liked her immediately. Unfortunately, she was too weak to return to work on a daily basis but she would come for a cup of tea every now and then. So now, way faster than he had imagined, he was behind a counter again, selling books and listening to the scratching sound of vinyl on Maureen’s old record player.


	17. Chapter 17

“I still can’t believe Giles got a job in a gay bookstore!”  
Buffy shrugs her shoulders while simultaneously putting a shirt on a hanger. “Why not? I mean, yeah, it’s a bit odd that he had to find a job on the day of our removal, but he’s cool with it – I mean, he’s cool with Tumbler and Pete and he had no problems with you and T…”, she tries to cover the T with a cough.

Willow sighs. “It’s okay, Buffy. It’s been a long time… It’s okay to say her name. – Not too often, though, but… I’m fine.” They don’t talk for a while and concentrate on the task of unpacking boxes.

“Besides,” Buffy breaks the silence, “remember the Eyghon thing? We had already concluded that Giles must have been involved with other men. I mean, non of us wanted to admit it back then, but after all their vicious circle consisted of five guys and only one woman…”

She sees Willow frowning. “… But… that is not what you wanted to talk about?....”  
The young witch gives a short laugh. “Right, though… It might have to do with it… Or not.”  
She sighs again and drops herself onto the unmade bed. Buffy gives her an impatient look. “Will?!”

“What I wanted to say,” Willow starts again, “is… I think… I.. uh.” _No_ , she thinks, _I can’t!_ But she’s already got Buffy’s attention. “Will? C’mon, it’s me. Just spill it!”

“Please promise me you’re not going to go ‘eeeew’ or…, well, ‘eeew!!!’.”

Buffy’s heart actually skips a beat. “…. Why would I go ‘eeew’? – Unless you fell for a really gross demon.” Pause. “…Nah, even if. But – you haven’t, have you?”

“No, Buffy, no demon. And Buffy, please, you can't mention this to anybody else, okay? Please! Not Xander, not Dawn, not Spike, not..." 

"Yeah, yeah, Will, I get it! I won't tell anyone - now spill it already!"

"Okay, here it is… O my… I think I… I’ve developed feelings for… Giles.” The last word comes out as a whisper. Somehow she is hoping that Buffy might not have caught it but of course she has, Slayer senses and all.

Buffy blinks three times before she slowly walks across the messy room and sits down next to her friend on the bed.

“So Giles, huh?”  
“I’m afraid so… Buffy, I’m so confused! Maybe I’m just crushing on him because he now works at a gay bookstore and that makes me like him even more… You know?”  


“Uh-huh… Huh?”

“But then again, I’ve been dreaming about him before…” The words are out before she knows it. “Buffy? Buffy, are you okay?”  


“Uh-huh…”  
“You’re in shock… I’m sorry…”  
“No, no, it’s fine. I just… I’ve never ever thought that you might be crushing on… O wait! Actually, I have!  
But then I would always say ‘naaah’ and have a laugh and now you’re telling me that you actually are crushing on my ex-watcher...”  


“Buffy! Please?”  


“Sorry. It’s just… I… I didn’t want to see that coming…” She inhales and exhales.  
“Wow.”  


Willow nods, her mind is elsewhere.  


Buffy repeats: “Wow.”  


After some seconds, Buffy seems to have regained her composure: “You know, I’m glad you told me. I don’t want to be a jerk about it. Really, I’m getting used to that info already.”  
Willow gives her a look. 

“You do?”  
“Yeah!”  
“Wow.”  
“Don’t you?”  
“Don’t I what?”  
“Got used to the thought of crushing on Giles?”  


“Oh. – Well, honestly, no, not yet. I… I mean, I’ve assumed that I’m bi but then I didn’t want to admit that because…  
I don’t know, it felt as if I was violating the lesbian code or something like that.”  


“There’s a lesbian code??”  
“Uh… I’m not really sure. Maybe. Perhaps not. It’s more likely that I’m in the middle of an identical crisis… again.”  


She feels Buffy’s hand on her shoulder. “Will, look at me!”  
“There is nothing wrong with being attracted to both sexes. I’m not really one for labeling feelings – but I do understand that it’s weird to have feelings you thought you did not have anymore… ‘Kay, I’m mixing this up with my crap now but on the whole, I think I’m right.”  


Willows eyes water but she smiles. “Thank you, Buffy. I think you really are. I think, I need some time to accept this feeling”, she wipes away a tear and hugs her new tenant.  
“And you are not even a bit... weirded out that it is Giles? I mean, I feel weird about it..."  


“Meh… No, somehow not. I gotta confess, after Oz left, Xander and I used to joke about how right you would be for each other... “  
“No way…”  
“Yes way! I mean, we were kidding and it would have definitely creeped me out had there been anything going on between you two back then but… Now? Now we’re adults. Plus: You made him about 10 years younger. Which means, you’re 25 now and he’s…”  
“Thirty-two!”  


Buffy grins. “Thirty-two. The age gap has minimized. Seven years, that’s not so much.”  


Suddenly, Buffy's agitated: “But please, don’t get all smoochie in front of me, you promise me that?”  
Willow slaps her.  


“Duh, Buffy. It’s a crush. And very probably one-sided. I don’t think that I’ll have the nerve to confess something like that to Giles, ever! You see? No need to worry!”  


“Hmmmm, we’ll see!”  
“Very funny! Now tell me about your crap!”


	18. Chapter 18

“O Willow, my crap… It’s an elaborated crap. My love life is a mess…”

Willow gave her an encouraging smile. “Even messier than my falling for our resurrected librarian?”

Buffy squirmed against the heap of clothes on her bed and sighed. “Well, sort of… I don’t know. You tell me!”

“Um, yeah, sure. But I’d need the story, first…”

“Huh? O right… Okay. Well, it is about Spike...”

“I knew it!!!”

“… And Angel… “

“Oh…”

“… And Nick.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah,” Buffy nodded.

“So…,” Willow carefully ventured a guess, “you’ve been involved with Nick?”

“What? No! – I mean, not yet… But I kinda like having him around… And at the same time, I feel really bad about myself, because I still like Spike a lot and then there’s the possibility for Angel and me to be together without the bad side effect. And right now, I just don’t know what to do with all these feelings.”

Willow opened her mouth for some kind of wise reply but couldn’t think of anything and closed it again.

Buffy shot her a look. “Told you, it’s a mess!”

Willow took a breath. “Maybe, but Buffy, I understand. Angel was your first love and he’ll always be special for you. You just have to make it clear to yourself that you are not morally obligated to get back together with him when the curse is broken. I know that the curse was the reason you two broke up in the first place, but so much has happened since then. And where Spike is concerned…”  
“He wants me to get together with Nick,” Buffy interrupted her.

“Whoa… He... he wants you to… what?!”

Buffy stared down at the bed. “He thinks that Nick would be good for me. That I would be surprised, once I started to get to know him better.” Willow bristled with anger. “Gosh, who does Spike thinks he is?!? You know, I like him Buffy, I really do, but this is patronizing bullshit! You – “  
Buffy tried to calm her friend down and gently took Willow’s wildly flourishing hands into her own. “Will! I know that. And Spike knows that too – he didn’t break it to me like that. He used a lot more words. I just shortened it. He said that Nick really liked me, but wouldn’t make a move because he doesn’t want to destroy anything between Spike and me.” She made a short, snorting sound. “He said it was about time I got a boyfriend that is not a demon. Okay, that is patronizing! But most of it he said that night sounded a lot like the break up talk Angel and I once had.”

“O Buffy, that is so… sad… and grown-up… and… and sad.”  
“I think part of it is Drusilla. She is reaching for Spike in his dreams. He told me, you knew?”

„Well… I know about his dreams. They’re similar to the ones I’m having. But, thank God, I’m not seeing Drusilla in them! Not clearly… Look, I didn’t want to bother you with the details. You know that Angel and Spike will leave when I’ve broken the curse…”

Buffy looked very fragile right now. “I’m so sorry,” Willow mumbled and closed the small distance between them with her arm. “I know how hard it is to let someone go…”

“Oz…”

Willow nodded. “Spike told me that he and Angel needed to make amends. Looks like Drusilla has settled down in L.A. Illyria keeps Angel updated on what’s happening down there.”

“Yeah. Spike told me that Drusilla was in some kind of sanctuary for crazy demons…”  
“ _The Demon Sanctuary for the Mentally Depraved_ , I’ve heard about it” Willow cut her off. “Um, sorry, go on!”

“Anyway, he said she was suffering and that, despite all the things Dru had done, she has been the first girl who has loved him –when he was still human.”

“Again, wow seems to be the right sound… Angel told me that he felt responsible for Drusilla, but he wouldn’t tell me why, exactly.”

“Oh, he better won’t, ever! I asked him about Drusilla once,” she shivered with disgust at the sheer memory. “I really wished he hadn’t told me! It’s a horrible story, Will. I’m glad you’re going to do that spell, soon. Angelus is a big pain in the ass for everyone, even for the undead.”

Willow’s worried expression lit up at that. “Oh yeah, the books arrived. I just need to get some of the ingredients and we could do the whole mojo by Friday!”

“You mean, before our big house-warming party?”

“Sure! Think about it, we’ve got tons of reasons to celebrate.”  
She took a deep breath and started to list: “Officially, there’s the fact that, finally, every floor has its own ready-to-use bathroom; then there’s your move in, and don’t forget Giles’s new job! Of course, Tumbler and Pete don’t have to know that we also celebrate Giles’s successful resurrection and a cursefree version of Angel! Plus, if they are about to leave, it’d be a nice thing to throw them a party, too, don’t you think?”

“Hm… I’m not sure if Angel is the right guy for a party, but… I like the idea.”

The two young women smiled. Sure, things were confusing; but somehow, it would be alright.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter...

Buffy was nervously hopping from her toes to her heels and back again. Angel and Willow have been in that room for ages! Even Giles was walking along the shelves and seemed stressed. “Was it like this when I got resurrected,” he asked.

Xander shook his head. “You have no idea… But, yeah, this comes close!” He was not in the best mood for an upcoming party. Honestly, he did not care much about that vampire, whether it was Angel or Angelus. liked the brooding soulful vampire slightly better than the homicidal monster because Angel did not go around murdering people. He was here because he wanted to make sure that Willow was fine. And because Dawn wanted to say hi to Angel and thought it rude not to be here on an event like this.  
 _I hope Buffy doesn’t get horizontal with him again. Only because she could… Not that I’d be jealous! I’m not, I’m with Dawn now. I’m just concerned, that’s all._

They heard a noise from across the room, and when they looked up, they saw Willow leaning against the doorframe. Giles’ heart skipped a beat. It was now when he realized that he had been shaking with fear. He wiped through his already disheveled hair and leaned against the nearest shelf. Before Willow could give him a reassuring smile, she found herself in Buffy’s strong arms.

“Will, o Will, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Buff,” was her muffled reply. Buffy let go. “Angelus is gone. Say hi to Angel,” she made a waving gesture to the dark vampire that had coyly appeared in the doorway.

“Hi,” he said.

The group tensely returned his greeting.

Slowly, Buffy made her way to her first boyfriend. Finally, they hugged.

Giles cleared his throat and nodded to the door. “Let’s give them some privacy, shall we?” 

Spike was waiting outside. He had brought a guitar.  
“Thought we could play a little. Tumbler’s a good drummer and would like to jam with us, later. What d’ya think, Rupert?”


	20. Chapter 20

It surprised Giles, how easy he felt among the younger people around him. He relaxed even more, when his former Slayer joined them, followed by a rather contrite looking Angel. He knew that the two vampires planned to leave tomorrow night, venturing to become humans. For all he knew, this was something no other vampire in history had ever accomplished before. _But then again,_ he thought, _it was very unlikely to find two of their kind._

From time to time, he would glance over at Willow – did she look paler than usual? _I hope, the spellcasting didn’t wear her out… Maybe I can talk her into taking -_ His train of thoughts was broken when he heard Spike yelling his name. “Rupert! You said you wanted to join us with the guitar!”  


He spun around to get a glimpse of Spike who was waving the guitar over his head. “I don’t know, Spike… It’s been a long time since I…”

“Aaah, bollocks! I have seen you hitting the strings before, that’s something you don’t forget!”

Buffy joined in: “Yeah, Giles, play something! I didn’t get to see you that one time in the Espresso Pump!”  


Faith hooted something at him that earned her a slap from Kennedy and a flinching face from Xander. Willow’s face, on the other hand, lit up at the prospect of Giles playing the guitar for them and that flattered him more than anything else did.

“Well… If you insist… But I get to choose the first song!”

Much to Giles’ satisfaction, it showed that Spike could not play at all but soon handed the second instrument over to Pete, who willingly accepted the invitation.

It was past midnight when Willow spotted Buffy. She was standing farther away from the crowd, holding hands with Spike and Angel. She telepathically reached out to her. Buffy grinned shyly and gestured her chin at the house.

*W.O.W.* telepathed Willow and remembered their talk before Buffy’s 17th birthday. _Eight years of piled up longing, wow._  
*Are you going to have a threesome?* _Just to be clear…_

Even in the dark, Willow could see Buffy blush.  
*Please, don’t tell the others…?* She nodded over to Giles, who was still playing with Pete, while Dawn, Xander, Faith, Ken and Tumbler were giddily dancing around. *They all seem to enjoy themselves and we don’t want to make a fuss about it… the leaving part, not the other part.* She blushed again and Willow couldn’t help but grin.

The trio made its way towards Willow.  
“Can you say goodbye for us to the others?” Angel asked her with a low voice.  
“Of course…” She had known that this day would come. It was inevitable for them to go on this adventure. And yet, Willow suddenly felt a big lump in her throat.

Spike let go of Buffy’s hand and pulled Willow into a hug. “Goodbye, Red! I’ll miss ya!” “I’ll miss you too,” she sniffed into his shoulder. He chuckled, gave her a quick peck on the cheek and backed away when Angel made his move towards the witch. “Thank you, Will. For everything!” “I wish you guys luck! I’ll check on you from time to time, okay?”

Buffy’s eyes had gone big and watery. “I love you, Will,” she whispered and hugged her tight. “Okay, we better leave now, or the others might notice us… I couldn’t stand them saying goodbye as well…”

Willow blew her nose and tried to smile as she approached the others.  
Something wet and heavy landed on her head. She looked up and blinked at the cloudy sky.

Tears mingled with raindrops. No one would guess that she had been crying.


	21. Chapter 21

Willow rushed forward to help picking up the things that weren’t supposed to get wet. For a second, the garden was lit by a bright flash. Still, everyone else seemed happy. Pete and Dawn, loaded with guitars and cables hurried past her, shouting something about an amp that needed to be saved from the rain. In the confusion, no one seemed to miss Buffy, Angel and/or Spike.

She turned to get to the seats and nearly bumped into Giles, who had just got up with the amp in his arms.

He stammered some apologies and stared at her. “Is everything alright? You look tired.”  
She gave him a weak smile. “I’m fine. It’s just a pity that it came to end so abruptly.”

Giles commented her pouting with a sympathetic chuckle: “Well, it could’ve been worse – at least we got to party without being interrupted by a hurricane.”

His words were drowned out by a heavy thunder. “It’s a jinx,” he added.

“So, did you like it?”

“Yes, I really did! You and the others put so much effort into this – and jamming with Pete, I must admit, it was fun!”

“Yeah, the audience enjoyed it as well – I did for sure!”

For some seconds they smiled at each other, then Giles cleared his throat and scrutinized the greyish sky. “We’d better hurry; it looks as if it’s coming down again any minute!”

Willow followed his gaze and frowned. “You’re right. Let’s do this!” With quick steps, they ran across the lawn, hastily grabbing some pillows from the chairs with their free hands.

Suddenly, the sky broke and everything was soaked in an instant. Willows voice sounded weak against the drumming rain. “Oh no, this is not good!”  
“C’mon, Willow! Let’s get inside!”

It took Willow all her strength not to start crying again, when she told the others about Spike and Angel. It was a short version and she left out the part that they were just in Buffy’s apartment, right opposite to the one they were in now. Faith tried to cheer them up and suggested to party on.  


Giles and Willow, however, pointed at their soaked clothes and called it a night.  


They made their way upstairs and began searching for the key. Willow was beyond tired and sad now. She suspected that she also was a bit tipsy. It felt good to know that Giles was human and alive and here, right next to her. Willow even smiled at the large puddles that were forming beneath them.

“If I hadn’t spent so much energy to cure Angel from the Gipsy’s curse, I could just magically dry us…”  
Giles had finally found the keys and opened the door.  
“Well, I’m glad you made sure that he’s never going to lose his soul again, no matter what” – the sudden realization of what this meant was clearly written on his surprised face.

Willow eyed him with a frown, expecting the worst. His eyes crinkled as if he was trying to figure something out and couldn’t.

“Hold on! Buffy…. She went away with Spike… and Angel??”

Willow straightened herself. “Well, not away-away… She’s… She’s in her apartment.”

“With them?” It sounded more like a conclusion.

“Yeah, um, Giles, we should get us some towels…”  
Giles let out a short laugh. “Right!”  
“Giles, don’t be all judgey on her”, she scolded him.  
Giles was taken aback: “I’m not all judgey – and that’s not even a word – I’m just… surprised.  


Willow nodded. “Good” He seemed somewhat confused. _Goddess, he grew up in the 60ies, he shouldn’t be shocked at anything sex-related!_ She had no intention to discuss Buffy’s love live with Giles, anyways. She wanted to know something that was far more important to her.

She finally let out her breath and looked directly at him. “Giles, are you ok? Is it ok… with you?”

Her pleading voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He took off his glasses and blinked at her with a nervous smile. “I’m sorry, of course it is, Willow. After all, Buffy is a grown up woman and it’s really none of my business with whom she wants to share her… nights with… Even if it’s a vampire… or two, for that matter. It just never occurred to me that she’d… developed deeper feelings for both of them at once…” he trailed off, put his glasses back and gave Willow an apologizing smile: “I guess, I’m still getting used to you all being adults.”

He heard her soft giggle and gave her a questioning look. “I’m really glad you think so, Giles, but I was referring to the whole ensouling-Angel-for-sure-thing,” she was serious again, “are you okay with that… and are you okay with me? For doing that?”

Now Giles let out his breath. He swiftly wiped away a raindrop that had found its way down from his curls. “Willow, are you afraid I’d hold it against you?” She shyly ducked her head and he felt the sudden need to reach out for her small frame and take her in his arms; yet he didn’t dare and also, it struck him as a highly inappropriate thought.

Instead, he chose to take an interest in his shoes. “Don’t be, Willow, I’m fine with it. After all, it’s never been Angel but Angelus that brought the misery. As much as I loathe Angelus, it wouldn’t be fair to hold a grudge against Angel.”

Willow let out a sigh of relief. “You really feel that way?” she said and silently added: _Even though Angel killed the woman, you loved? Okay, Angelus had killed her but who was thinking rational when it comes to love?_

She stood there, still soaking wet, dripping on the floor and looked so relieved that this time he couldn’t resist to reach out and emphasis his words with an assuring touch on her shoulder. “I do. You banned the demon and got Angel to live – as much alive as an undead can be, that is. You should be proud, Willow. I’m very glad that we’ll never have to deal with Angelus again.”

When he felt the heat of her body unnervingly real under the thin material of her blouse, he quickly withdrew his hand again.

At his touch, Willow had shortly closed her eyes and shivered. _Why does this feel so good?_  
She suppressed a moan at the loss of his touch. He wasn’t mad at her that was all that mattered – or so she thought until he had drawn back his hand…. The spot where his hand had been, felt like a twitch.

They stared at each other as if seeing themselves for the first time. Finally, they both made a move and blurted out simultaneously: “Towels! I’ll get some!”

They laughed. Willow’s mind was racing. _Am I getting the signals right? Is he acting weird? Or is it just me? But why me? I’m gay. And this is Giles! But it’s just a crush! And I’m even babbling when I’m thinking, dammit!_

Giles inhaled audibly and murmured something that Willow couldn’t catch – or maybe wasn’t supposed to. He needed something solid to hold on to and steadied himself at the wall before he escaped into the bathroom to get the towels. He felt hot and cold at the same time and a tiny voice inside him told him: This is bad… Whereas another voice that clearly belonged to his teenage counterpart, Ripper, was trying to get through the inner walls of consciousness. Giles hoped that he wouldn’t push through.

He reached for the soft fabric and took a deep breath before he turned to face Willow again. Friend. Willow is a friend. A very young friend – and above all, she’s gay. Now get yourself together.

He found her in the living room, where she was in the middle of igniting the fireplace. He wanted to say something but she beat it to him: “We haven’t thought about dry wood for the fireplace… Maybe I can at least make a fire…”

She was still facing the chimney and before Giles could stop her, she had conjured a little fireball that danced above her outstretched hand. She turned her head in his direction and bestowed him with a genuine smile. “It worked!” Giles returned her smile. Of course it worked. You’re Willow.

She threw the fireball where she wanted it and the room filled with a warming glow. She was about to get up but the small effort of creating a fireball had been too much: “Whoah!?” She simply flopped back on the ground. In an instant, Giles was at her side. “Willow!”

She stared at him with wide hazel eyes. “Um… Maybe I’m still too launched out from the big spell… Maybe I should…”

Giles cut her off. “Maybe you shouldn’t be doing anything right now and relax! Here, let me help you.” She lolled against his side but tried to walk properly.

“I’m sorry, Giles, I just can’t seem to use my legs… Everything is turned upside down…”

“Don’t worry, that’s just the aftermath of too much magic. It’ll pass very soon, you just need to rest.”

He laid her down on the sofa and she smiled up at him as if she was tipsy. _Giles has pretty hair! I haven’t thought about his hair for such a long time…_  
She grinned at him: “Your hair is curly…”

Giles blushed. “Well, it gets that way when it’s wet... It’s quite annoying, really.”  
Before she could stop herself, Willow heard herself blurting out: “It’s adorable!”

Giles continued to blush but he was also involuntarily flattered. “Y-you think so?”  
Now it was Willow’s time to blush, but somehow it didn’t make her feel as awkward as she normally would have felt. “I really do.”

Giles took down his glasses and began to rub them against the cotton of the towel. Willow bit her lip, to keep herself from smirking. _Giles is nervous! And flattered!_

A small chuckle escaped him. “And I think…” – he fell silent. _Everything about you is adorable, Willow. Oh I can't bloody well say that!_

She gave him a questioning look. “Yes?”

“Um… Well… I… I think you did great, with Angel. And… your nose stopped bleeding, thank God!” His voice had tuned up a bit and the witch eyed him curiously. Then her vision went blurry and she had to close her eyes. She distantly caught his soothing voice before she fell into a deep sleep.

Giles was amazed at how relaxed she seemed to be. With her eyes closed and her slightly smiling lips, one could think she was enjoying a nice dream. He had no intentions to wake her, so he covered her with a blanket and tiptoed out of the room. He made it into the kitchen and let out a long, shaking breath. With trembling hands, he poured himself a glass of Scotch.

_That was close you old fool!_


	22. Chapter 22

Nearly two weeks had passed since the party and everything was remotely back to normal. Spike and Angel were gone, but Nick was around quite often and sometimes, he even asked them to help him with a case.

Willow did not seem to remember the curly-hair-incident and Giles was not sure if he was glad or sad about it. Buffy, Angel and Spike had reappeared shortly after Giles and Willow left.

“We just lay there and nothing happened,” said Buffy. “It felt weird and then we decided to go back to you all – but you had already left…” She smirked at Willow. “Well, now that I know about your crush on Giles, I didn’t want to spoil a moment between you, all wet and… “. She stopped, giggling, and warded off some pillows that Willow was throwing at her.  


“Nothing happened, okay? But… He’s so nice to me. I’m still crushing pretty hard, Buffy…” The Slayer mockingly covered her ears and sang: “Nanananana!” But when she saw Willow’s face, she sighed: “Well, if it’s really that bad… then you should do something about it! I gotta go now, classes. I’ll see Giles later, by the way.”  
Willow gave her a strange look. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell him anything! I just ordered a book that’s supposed to arrive today.”

At the store, Xander was fixing a broken shelf. He had thought about it for days now and needed to get the image out of his mind. He needed to make sure that there was nothing going on between his best friend and Giles.

“So… I hear living with Willow turned out to be just fine.” He hoped that it sounded like a passing mention.

Giles beamed. “Yes, yes, indeed!” More than just fine, he thought and smiled, remembering how delighted Willow had been this morning when he had made pancakes for breakfast. _Like Tara used to make them_ , she had commented and Giles was petrified for a second. But her face was at peace and she was smiling at him and everything was just wonderful between them.

Xander was watching Giles behind his counter and suddenly something occurred to him. All that strange touching between him and Willow was new. He had noticed it at the party, when they had barbeque in the garden. _I noticed it and I am half blind,_ he thought. They have always been comfortable around each other, sure, but this… was something new, he could tell! And wasn’t Giles looking unnervingly often at Willow that night? And all that smiling? He even laughed at a joke that she told them that had not been funny at all, because she’s messed up with the punch line. Okay, they had laughed, too. Well, more at her adorable blushing and then because everyone was in such a good mood…

He chose to test his sneaking suspicion and cleared his throat: “Is WILLOW“, he literarily pronounced her name in small caps, capturing Giles’ reaction to it, “... at the office today?”

Giles’ face lit up again.

 _O Please no…_ “Or is Willow….” _Again with the smiling! Damn!!_  
He decided to give it another shot. “Wait, no, that was yesterday. Today’s her home-office day, right?” He saw Giles’ reaction and couldn’t stand it any longer.  
“There!” he shouted.

He pointed his index towards Giles and waved his arm. “You just did it again!”  
Giles shot him an annoyed glare. “I beg your pardon?”  
“That smile you’re smiling!”  
The older man seemed to be clueless. “What smile? What are you talking about!?”  


“I’m talking about that goofy smile of yours every time I mention WILLOW.” – Giles couldn’t help but grin again. “WILLOW!” Giles lit up but now he seemed to realize that the young man was right and when Xander hurled the Wicca’s name at him again, he felt heat rising up his cheeks. Quickly, Giles threw his hand at his mouth to cover his silly smiling lips.  


“Dear Lord!”... He didn’t mean to say it out loud but he heard these two words escape his lips, like a confession. Xander stumbled some steps backwards.  
“Giles!” Xander was beyond hyper now. “You’re in love”, he shrieked, “with Willow!!”  
It took Giles some seconds to comprehend Xander’s accusations. The sounds he made had to muddle through the thick fog that had diffused in Giles’s head like a shield to protect him from Xander’s sudden rage.

His voice had an odd resemblance to Dawn’s, back then when she was 15. Perhaps it had something to do with them being a couple… Or it was just his own rising panic that he projected into Xander’s voice? … What was he thinking?! _Willow…_ Fiercely he shook his head, as if to get rid of the image that began to form inside him and made him smile yet again, despite the recent discovery from the young man that also happen to be Willow’s best friend.

Xander was still pratting on about the absurdity of this – “thing”, as he called it and there were a couple of “eews” and, of course, something about age difference and “newsflash: she’s gay!” and finally the fog in Giles’s head was lifting and he dared to face Xander.  
“Please tell me I’m wrong, Giles.”

When he didn’t answer, Xander repeated his name: “Giles? I’m wrong, right? You can’t have fallen for Willow, it’s just not… You’re not, right?”

Slowly, Giles sank down on the comfy armchair that was right next to the desk. Neither of them could tell how long they lingered in the book store without saying a word or when that woman had entered the store to pick up her order of college-books. Giles absentmindedly served her and then remembered that Xander was still there and waiting for an answer. He took a deep breath and forced himself to meet Xander’s face.

He still didn’t know what to say. Xander looked so fragile and he still seemed to hope that Giles would proof him wrong, that there was another explanation for all the smiling and the accumulated exchange of stolen glances between the witch and the former watcher.

Giles let out a deep breath and looked lost. “I’m… I’m sorry.”  
He really was. Sorry for making things so much more complicated when everything was just about to get back to normal – as normal as their lives could ever be, that is. Sorry for the awkwardness he surely was about to cause among the tightly bonded group. And part of him felt also sorry for himself, for finally falling for the young woman he had have a soft spot for since he had first met her in the High School Library.

Xander just stood there, gawking with his mouth wide open. “Duh!” That was all he could reply for the moment. After another couple of minutes he had regained his temper.  
“You know that Willow’s still gay, right? I mean, she dumped Kennedy and may have had some one night stands with… people… _Does a snake-demon count as people?_ But she’s still voting for the ladies.”

Giles raised his hands: “I know. Believe me, I… If I could… Of course, I’d never act on it, Xander. I think I…  
I’ll just have get over it.”

Xander raised his eyebrows: “You better! Maybe it’s best if you – you know, get some space. Somewhere away from her. Don’t you think?”

“You’re right… Perhaps I should start looking for my own place.” Xander nodded approvingly. “Yeah. Gee, I’m still... Giles… this is Willow. I mean, don’t think I wouldn’t understand you. She’s… she’s Willow. And that’s also the big but here: Willow!”

At his words, Giles made such a distressed impression that Xander suddenly felt sorry for him. After all, Giles was his friend, too and maybe it was time for him to act like it. “Look, Giles – I’m sorry…. I’ll stop freaking out now.”

“It’s ok, Xander. I get why this is… Apart from all the reasons I shouldn’t go into this any farther, you’re her oldest friend. I understand if this… upsets you, I’d be surprised if not.”

“Maybe. And, alright, all pretty weird. But I’m your friend, too, you know. You know that, right? I mean, I know I’m not Mr. Smarty-Pants but I’ve been told that I’m quite good with the matters of, you know… the heart-achy-stuff. If you want to talk, I’ll be there.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

They both remained silent for some minutes until Giles cleared his throat.

“Um, Xander? Can you please not tell anyone about this? I’ll… It will pass. I will make it pass. Please, I don’t want to hazard my friendship with her – or with anyone of you, for that matter.”

Xander made a gulping noise and nodded. “Of course. I understand… And hey, I’m really sorry. I know what it’s like to… I can relate.” He gave him a comforting slap on the shoulder and handed him the newspaper from the magazine-rack. “Here, there must be some ads in it. I gotta leave now, work and all. Call me if you need anything, ‘kay?”

“Yes, thank you.”

When Xander waved his goodbye at the door, he left Giles in a confused state. He looked so lost. Xander felt deeply sorry for him.

Some hours later, Buffy bounced into the shop. “Hey Giles! Did you know that the sign says closed? But since you knew that I’d drop by around four to grab that copy of _Teaching Fitness to Dummies_ I assumed someone might just have accidently turned that…”

“Buffy! …” He was not in the mood to tell her that she got the title wrong. He had been skimming through the real estate ads, halfheartedly and frustrated and finally given into the mercy of fantasizing himself ‘Anywhere But Here’.

“Sorry for the babbling – I just… Wow, Giles, you look daydreamy. What’s the what?” She saw his brow furrow.

“O no, something bad? … Are you still waiting for that shipping order from Europe?”

He forced himself out of his reveries (that had not been all bad before Buffy entered his shop). “No... No, that uh… in fact it arrived just this morning.” He tried to act casual: “That’s why Xander was here earlier, to… to help me with the unpacking and to fix that shelf over there.”

“Okaaay… So why with the stuttering?” Then she shot a look at the newspapers and the red-marked ads. “Giles, whatcha doin’?”

He was trying to cover the ads with some catalogues. “Nothing! Just… um, choosing new books from the listings…” Buffy was far from being convinced. “Uh-huh!?”

Giles could see her confused stare that was edging on accusing. “It’s nothing…”

He started again. “Buffy, whatever you think it is I assure you it’s not!” _Why did I say that?!_

Buffy’s eyebrow quirked up but if she was confused, she hid it well.

“I just pretend you didn’t say that! My Slayer eyes descried some to-let-ads and some of them where circled with a yellow text-marker – and since you’re still holding one in your shaking hand that you so ineffectively hide behind your back, I’m guessing you just marked them. Which brings me to the conclusion, that you’re either out of crosswords and having way too much time on your hands or that you’re looking for a flat, q.e.d.!”

Giles blinked at her in surprise. “Uh… well… I… “

Buffy looked shocked: “What? I am right? Giles!? You’re really going to move out? Will’s gonna be devastated! All during lunch, she was raving about how you made her pancakes this morning, just like Tara used to do them – and she seems so happy to share her über-flat with you – gee, Giles, you both seemed so happy, what happened?”

Rupert sighed heavily and slowly returned his hand from his back. He felt defeated. Should everybody know, then, he obviously wasn’t able to hide anything from them. He rested his head between his elbows and after another gulp, he looked at his grown-up slayer.

“I’m afraid, that would be the point exactly, Buffy. We’re getting along just fine. Living with Willow has been…” He was searching for words that didn’t made him sound like a love-sick teenager. Buffy curiously blinked at him.

“It’s been wonderful. Perhaps too wonderful, really”, he admitted. _Great, Giles…_

“Gee, now I understand! Everything’s great, so you have to move out! That really makes sense in a sense that it’s not!? Giles, what the hell…” – Suddenly Buffy stopped talking. Her eyes grew large, and just when he expected them to literally pop out of her face, she found her voice again: “Oh! Uh… Nah! But… Giles… Is it… are you…?”

When he only gave her a subtle nod and a sigh again, she slowly sank in the nearest chair, right in front of the section for Paleontology.

“Does she know about this?” she finally managed to ask. Her voice sounded timid and his response matched it: “No! At least, I hope she doesn’t suspect… Although, Xander already had me this morning… Is it really that obvious?”

However, Buffy seemed to be in some state of disbelief and just stared in his direction. He sighed again.

“Buffy, please listen. Willow must never know, can you promise me that? Please.”

Now he had Buffy’s attention – at least her eyes seemed to be focusing on him again. “I... I don’t want to ruin the friendship that we have. I’m well aware that… that everything’s… that it could never happen – that it _should_ never happen,” he added. “That’s why I’m, well… I think I’d need some space… and time to… to get over it.”

Buffy only nodded. That was some news. Then she jolted her head, as if to shake something off. “No!”

Giles gave her a terrified look.  
“I mean, was that Xander’s idea? Did he suggest that you moved out?”

“Well, yes but that’s not the point… He’s right, of course.”

“Again with the no! – I mean… Do you really want to leave without telling her the true reason? What will you tell her? And since when do you take advice from Xander? How come he knows, anyway?”

“I don’t… I’m not sure how he knew. He just knew. Buffy, please. I just found out myself, well, Xander made me realize it… and I don’t think I could face her right now.”

“I understand… But I think you should tell her. And… as disturbing as the image of her and, well, you might be to me… Although… not quite as disturbing as it should be, I guess... I’m confused!” She needed to stop now. She had promised Willow not to tell anyone. But she would make sure that they talked to each other.

Giles grunted: “Tell me about it!”

“Honestly Giles. Talk to her. She’d like to know…”

“Buffy, I’m not only 20 years older than her, I’m also aware of the fact that Willow’s gay.”

“Yeah, well. Technically, since your resurrection, you’re only seven years older than her. You’ve gained back some years for your second life!”

He chuckled lightly at that. “True.”

“Plus, I happen to know something about Willow that could make the other obstacle less obstacly.” Giles shot her a glance. Under his gaze, Buffy began to prattle: “Well, I don’t know if I should tell you this but since this kinda is an emergency and I think… Um… Well, for the record: Willow is still attracted to men – only much, much less… men… *g* Um… Anyway, what I wanted to tell you is… Boy! Did you know that she used to have a major crush on you back in High School?”

“What? No… No I didn’t know that… Really?”

Buffy smiled at him. “Really.”

“But I thought she had a crush on Xander? I mean, wasn’t their little... fling the reason for their break-ups? – and let’s not forget, the reason Cordelia made her vengeance-wish to Anya… Well, at least that is what Anya’s told me.”

“Right, Xander and Willow… That’s something… different. He’s been her best friend since kindergarten. But it was a picture of you she had hanging in her locker – until Oz that is…”

“Willow had a picture of me in her locker?”

“Well, the both of you… How did that happen, anyway?”

“Um… Well… I remember a reading-challenge at Sunnydale High and somehow Willow’s volunteered…. to help me with the organization… with the books and… everything.” He fell silent and let his memory take over. Until Buffy waved directly before his eyes.

“Hello, earth to Giles?”

“I’m sorry. I was just… I never knew that she had this picture of us…” He blushed deeply.

“Okay Giles, where did you hide that picture? Don’t tell me you didn’t have it, too?”

“Well, I… um… I had it in my secretary – but I never thought of her as… Please believe me Buffy!”

Buffy shut him down. “You’ve always had a soft spot for Will, admit it!” When she saw his horror struck expression, she burst into laughter. “Giles, relax! I’m just teasing you!”

“Er… okay, then….” He made a short snorting noise and shook his head in disbelief. “This is… this is totally new for me, Buffy. If it wasn’t for Xander, it might have taken much longer for me to realize… And suddenly I find it somewhat unnerving that I’m discussing this with you.”

This time, Buffy shot him a look. “Don’t get me wrong, Buffy. It’s just… You two are so close and I feel like I’m talking behind her back...” He paused.

“Well, again, technically you are… talking behind her back… But I get what you mean, though.”

Giles took off his glasses and gestured into the room. “I am at a loss, Buffy.”

“Giles! Go to Willow and talk to her. I mean, you two have always shared some bond – without the whole destiny-crap!”

“So… Are you suggesting that… that I should try?” Was that really his Buffy? Had she matured that much in such a short time?

“I really do. Don’t ask me why, exactly. It just doesn’t bother me… And somehow it even makes sense.” Her uplifting spirit was contagious. Giles chuckled, stupefied.

Buffy went on: “Plus, Willow hasn’t fallen for anyone since she broke up with that sexy snake-demon and maybe you just ought to give it a try?”

At the mention of Aluwyn, Giles cringed. “Right, and who am I to compete against that?”

“Don’t be silly, Giles! Do I have to play match-maker?”

“No! Dear Lord, I’m begging you, please no! I will talk to her. Tonight. Not that I feel any less Humbert Humbert now that you told me about her High School crush on me…”

“Duh! It’s not that we hadn’t have experience with the age difference in relationships in our circle. Anya was about 980 years older than Xander, for example. Or look at me and Angel… or… or Spike.”

“I’d rather not”, Giles winced but then softened his tone. “I’m sorry. I know Spike is a different… person now. I guess I still feel awful about my behavior back in Sunnydale. I really did what I thought was right at that time…”

“Hey. We’ve already talked this out, remember? No hard feelings. Even Spike told me he understands why you did it. We’re good now. And don’t get me sidetracked, mister, but you’re lucky, it’s almost 4 pm and I gotta get back to work. Hand me my book and I’ll be gone. Just remember – I love you both dearly and should either of you hurt one another I’ll have to kill you both, understood?”

“Well, that’s encouraging – but thank you. I’ll keep it in mind.”

Buffy took the book he had lifted up from behind the counter. “You better,” she winked and rushed out of the shop.

“You better!” – How odd that both of his young friends left him with the same encouragement – though each in a completely opposite context. _Well_ , he thought, taking in a deep breath, _then I better will._ Still, the thought alone made him tremble with fear.  
Suddenly, Xander’s advice seemed much more desirable to follow through.

It promised a less nerve-wracking prospect, uncomfortable times, yes, but also less… troublesome, compared to the heartache he was likely to endure after he would have confessed his feelings to Willow. After all, he was used to sitting things out, to deny his feelings. _You’re a coward, Giles!_ He could not do it. There was too much at risk.


	23. Chapter 23

He heaved one last big sigh, then Giles picked up the old phone that hang on the wall behind the counter. It was a relict from Maureen that he did not had heart to replace yet. He had made enough changes in the bookshop already to prevent it from getting into the red. The phone was something he associated with his own childhood, which, in an odd way, had a soothing effect on him.

Back home, he is glad that Willow isn’t there. Quickly, he takes a shower and gets ready for the viewing. He is just reaching for the door, when Willow bursts in, two bags from a take-away in one hand, her phone pressed between her chin and her shoulder. “Got him,” she whispers out of breath. Someone says something on the other side but Willow puts the phone down and turns it off. She must have been talking to Buffy! Giles heartbeat speeds up.

“So it’s true?” she confronts him, “you’re really looking for a new room? And now,” she makes a wild gesture at his suit, “now you’re probably even going to a viewing… without telling me?”

Giles seems frozen to the spot. He opens his mouth but nothing comes out of it.

His heart sank even more. Unable to look at her directly, he began fumbling with the newspaper in his hands.  
“I presume that you have talked to Buffy?” Giles's voice was nearly audible.

Willow made a confirming gesture. “What… what did she tell you, exactly?” _*Was that a squeak in his last word?*_ He sounded awfully distressed.

“Well... She called me between her classes to tell me that you were probably about to follow a very stupid suggestion from Xander who told you it’d be best if you started looking for your own place and that she wasn’t sure if she succeeded in talking you out of it. And… And, I mean, Xander Harris!? Since when do you listen to him, anyway?” _Way to scare him off even more,_ she scolded herself. _I’m the uncrowned queen of Babblemania…_

Giles felt his eyelids twitching nervously. He quickly took off his glasses and squinted his eyes. He let out a low laugh and mumbled: “He really had a good point.”

He felt the floor under his feet wobbling like waves and he had to hunch over and get hold on the wall. “Giles!” Willow was with him in an instant. “Perhaps… we could take this to the kitchen…. I need to sit down for a minute.”  
She grabbed his arm and guided him until he was safely seated.

She took a seat as well and faced him with puckered brows. He still didn’t want to tell her why he had given in to Xander’s idea but he had to say something, anything, soon.

“Thank you. I’ll be fine in a minute…” She wore a puzzling look on her face. It was gut wrenching. He had to look somewhere else.

It was now that he noticed the two bags from Health’s Kitchen that Willow had placed on the table.

“Dinner”, she dryly stated. “I wanted to surprise you in the bookshop… to return the favor for the pancakes you had made this morning.”

“Oh” was all he could get out. Why had he ruined this? He had been perfectly capable of hiding his deeper feelings for his former student – except from Xander, obviously… He sighed again.

Willow couldn’t take it any longer. “I really thought you liked it here. I mean, yeah, the construction will take a bit longer than I thought but… but we were getting along great! And now you want to… I mean, I can’t force you to live with me, I just assumed that we… fit.”

“But we do! I…” He cut himself off and ran his hand through his hair, looking for a better explanation. When he saw that Willow was about to start another tirade, he found his voice again: “Listen to me! This house is… it is wonderful; living with you has been wonderful.”

His words took her by surprise and they were silent for a couple of moments. Then her eyes glanced down at the newspaper in his hand. Her voice sounded broken and he was even sure to see unshed tears dwelling up their way into her eyes when she nodded to the coiled up paper under his arm and mumbled: “Well, then I don’t understand…”

The dizziness was suddenly gone and his mind was furiously looking for a way out of this mess. He needed to call the agent and be gone. He couldn’t stand to be around her after his confession.  
He stammered some apologies and headed out of the kitchen. Willow reached his hand before he could escape into his room. Giles took a deep breath and turned to face her.  
“You’re one of the smartest persons I know, Willow. You’ll figure it out.”

Accompanied by the loud heartbeat drumming in her ears, she watched him closing the door to his room.


	24. Chapter 24

Willow stood in the kitchen, blinking. His sudden retreat had taken her off guard and for a few seconds, she even forgot to breathe. “Okaaaaay…?” she mumbled and slowly sat down on the same chair that Giles had been sitting on only minutes before.

She heard him talking on the phone to someone, his voice sounded very far away. Then there was silence. And then there was something inside Willow’s head, like a huge oversized anvil that came crushing down and made her realize something.

Her lips formed to a smile. It was almost as if her body already _knew_ for sure what she was only guessing, hoping…

Giles heard the soft knocking on his door. He had dreaded it but he would have to face it all now. There was no way to weasel out of it anymore.

Before he could answer, she opened the door and let herself in. “Hope I’m not intruding?” she asked but kept closing the distance to him, anyways. He managed to flash her a shy smile and then seemed to be awfully transfixed by the spines on his shelf.

Inches away from what he considered his personal space, she came to a halt. Something inside him wanted to break into fits of laughter. He hadn’t felt this confused since his adolescence. No, not since Jenny. She had managed to turn him into a gibbering fool. He gave himself a heart and looked at Willow’s face. He had to smile. She always made him smile.

“Willow…”

Her heartbeat sped up. He was about to say something huge, she could feel it.

When nothing followed, she sighed. _I can do this!_ , she encouraged herself. Slowly, she inched closer.  
“So… you like the house?”

He nodded.  
“And you enjoy sharing this flat with me?”  
Again, he nodded. He dreaded the next question.  
“And yet… Xander somehow got the impression that it’d be better if we didn’t share a flat? Or not even the same house, for that matter.”

He swallowed. “Because he became aware of… something that wasn’t clear to me until then. But… he is right and it wouldn’t be fair if I stayed.”

“Um… I think you skipped the explaining part, Giles? Aware of what? What could Xander possibly see that escaped us all?”

She sounded calm but the slight trembling did not escape Giles’ attention. He was unable to form words and he did not trust his own voice, so he stayed silent. Had he been looking at her, he would already know that she was teasing him.

Her next words came out as a whisper, and he had difficulties catching them.  
“You were right, Rupert. I think I figured it out.”

He gave her a puzzling look, desperately trying to figure out how much she already guessed. Surely, as powerful as Willow was, she must be able to see right through him, but would she?

“You… Please, don’t… I…” He stopped. Time stood still. Willow couldn’t resist to place her hand on his arm. She gave him a reassuring squeeze.  
“Giles” she whispered. As if in slow motion, he let his hands sink down. He averted his eyes and let his gaze come to rest on her hand.

“And I wasn’t even to know about this? Don’t you think I’d have the right to know?”

Her voice, so gentle and soft. It would smash him, though, he thought. Surely, she wouldn’t mock him, she was far too nice for that and too good a friend. But she would have to reject him, that was for sure. And he couldn’t stand to hear it.

“I’m sorry,” Giles replied, nearly soundless. “I thought you’d be better off…” _Without having to feel sorry for me…_ , he finished in his mind. However, now the cat was already out of the sack and all he could do was to minimize the trail of dead birds it would leave behind. _Why do I come up with such strange pictures_ , he thought. _This one doesn’t even make sense!_

His mazy train of thoughts stopped when he heard her calm voice.  
“Giles… I told you that I’ve figured it out. And if I’ve figured it out correctly, then there’s no need to feel sorry.” It was still easier for him to talk to her hand on his arm, despite the distracting tingle that came with it. "What are you saying?” He noticed how brittle he sounded.

“I am saying that if that’s how you feel, I’ll let you know that I feel the same way… about you.” That got his attention. His eyes darted up to meet hers.  
She smiled. His reaction seemed to fuel something inside her. “A little feedback would be nice, you know. Just to make sure that we’re on the same page and all – because, if not, I wish for a huge hole to swallow me right now,” she stated.

Her words danced around his disbelieving brain but finally they sank in. Smiling, he reached for her hand and gently squeezed it. “Please don’t wish for anything like this near a Hellmouth,” he said. “But… are you sure… about me?”

A goofy smile spread on her face and he felt a surge of blood shooting straight down to his loins. Still, there had to be some of it left to disperse another blush onto his face. “Of course, silly! Did you think you’re the only one with a crush here?”

He remembered the night after the party, when Willow had told him that his hair was adorable… He had wanted to kiss her so badly, then. She whispered, as if she had read his thoughts: “Do you remember the night…?” “Yes”, he exclaimed before she could finish her sentence.

She quirked her eyebrows. “If I recall correctly, you were about to tell me something nice as well?” “I was… But…” he collected all his courage and looked her right in the eyes: “…You have the tendency to render me speechless…” He was talking in clichés but that did not prevent her from melting away.

“Giles”, she laughed at him, “are we flirting?”  


“Well…”

So large, he thought. Never had he met anyone with eyes as large as hers. Or as green – or were they hazel? He gave up. “Yes, I suppose we are… But I’m still not sure if we should.” She stared at him in odd disbelief. He took her hands in his to get her attention.

“There is so much at risk. I don’t want to lose what we have.”  
The statement weighed heavy on their chests. So he did not want to jeopardize their friendship, which she thought was nice, yet it seemed unfair. She turned and started pacing across the room.

“But… But I would lose. I’m already on the verge of losing you as my roomie… And I suppose it’d take some time to get over this `me-feeling-awfully-attracted-to-you´-thing, so we would have to avoid each other for weeks, maybe even months and…” He rushed to her side and touched her lightly on the shoulder. She forcefully shook his hand off.

“No, don’t touch me! You really have no idea what you’re doing to me when you do that,” she spat at him. Giles head was spinning. He had not expected her to take this so hard… well, he had not expected her to return his feelings, to begin with.

“I must be sounding rather stupid,” he admitted, partly hoping to slow her down. Willow turned around quickly. “Yes. Have you really thought this through? You’re saying that…. Even though we both feel attracted to another… and even have proofed that we get along great living together… and, given our history of magicks and dark stuff pass as an excellent match… You would rather not take this chance with me and find out? Because you’re afraid?”

He swallowed. Everything she just said made sense. Much more so, it filled him with an exciting tingle. “Let me start again, please,” he gestured to the large armchair next to his bed.  
“You’re right, everything you just said is right… I really haven’t thought this through, not any of it. It never occurred to me that you might return my feelings. I just… When Xander made me realize how much I lo… how much you mean to me, I panicked. I was so afraid of losing what we have that I – I’ve been stupid, and I’m sorry.”

Willow was still upset but his words were soothing.  
“So…?” She said haltingly.  
“So… I… I’d like to start again – if you still want to, that is.”

Willows eyes snapped open. She tried to reply something, anything, but she was so overwhelmed with sheer bliss that she could only squeeze his hand to tell him that she had understood.

She pressed herself into the back of the armchair and invited him to fill the space. Slowly, he complied but his eyes searched hers, as if he was frightened of crossing a line that she was not willing for him to cross. She extracted her hand and finally allowed herself to touch his hair. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes for a moment  
“I think I am in love with you, Giles.”

His heart was drumming against his ribcage and he was too afraid to answer, too afraid that he might scream back `I love you!´ because of the deafening noise that had risen inside his head after her statement.  
So he gazed from her eyes to her lips and back to her eyes again, still looking for approval for what he hoped she would like him to do. She watched him with distractingly hooded eyes and inched her face towards his until their lips met for the first time.


	25. Chapter 25

_Giles is kissing me!_ – That was all Willow could think before she stopped thinking altogether. Her desperate longing to touch his skin surprised her but she was soon too occupied with kissing him back to wonder about anything else than his soft lips and his tongue... After a while, they came back for air with ragged breaths and glowing eyes. Giles lifted up his hand and gently touched the side of her face, leaving invisible hot paths with his fingers. When his fingertips grazed her lips, she leaned her head into his hand and playfully tongued them.  


Hearing him moan with pleasure did something to Willow, made her feel powerful and want to touch him even more. Giles hadn’t felt that aroused in a very long time. He was afraid of wanting too much too soon, so he just kissed her again.  


Willow on the other hand, didn’t seem to have these problems. She reached for Giles’s jacket and shoved it down his shoulders until it hit his arms. She could feel him chuckle inside her mouth. For a second, it confused her. But when they stopped kissing to catch their breaths and she saw his sappy-happy face, she had to giggle too. Fondly, he nudged her nose with his and then freed himself of his jacket. It thunked to the ground. He must have put his smartphone inside one of its pockets, but he didn’t seem to care.  


Willow gulped. He was glaring at her intensely. She tentatively reached out for his biceps that appeared beneath his t-shirt and ran her fingers down his naked arm.  


He inhaled audibly and pulled her into another embrace. His hands were roaming along her back until he gave in to his urge to feel more of her. Without hesitation, Willow helped him to pull off her garment. A cream-colored bra covered her breasts. His breath quickened when he took in the sight of her gently freckled torso.  


She did not consider herself shy anymore and knew that she was able to affect others. But this was Giles, and she remembered her teenage crush on him and somehow, the memory of it brought back her adolescent insecurities. Just when she thought that she couldn’t stand another second of being stared at, he whispered: “It’s just… you are so beautiful!”  


_Okay, that’s… Wow…_. She rewarded his sentiment with a genuine smile and closed the short distance between them. She wanted to reply something in kind but before she could form anything, his mouth covered hers again. He sucked in her bottom lip and she let out a long moan. Suddenly, he wore way too much clothing for her taste. She needed to feel his skin. Now.  


Willow choke down a wave of frustration, and, between urgent kisses, finally voiced her desire: “*Please*… Too many… layers here… want to …feel… your skin!”  


He shook his head with a mischievous grin and pulled back just a little. “Well, if you’re begging me…” Yet his voice betrayed his cool. It was coarse with anticipation and need. Grinning back, she placed her hands under his shirt and let them travel up his chest. Hastily, he pulled it over his head and threw it away. Willow enjoyed the feel of his hairy chest against her fingertips. She circled his nipples and placed a soft kiss on each one of them. Heard him hissing in response, was close enough to feel his quickening heartbeat and his growing erection. She grinned and moved until her hips met his. He pushed a bit and they both groaned.  


“Bed,” Willow breathed, “now.”  
Giles placed one kiss on her hair, then lifted her up and swung her around.  


“I suggest my bed,” she breathed into his ear, right after she had nuzzled a particularly sensitive spot on his neck, “I’ve got condoms.”  


That statement baffled him for a second: “You’ve got…?”  
“Yeah… They kinda come with certain… toys.” _Great... Show him yout toolbox while you're at it!_  
  


She blushed, but he only raised a brow and smiled at her longingly.  


Neither of them paid any attention to the muted sound of the smartphone.  



	26. Chapter 26

„He’s not answering his phone!” With a sigh, Buffy turned to Nick Burkhardt. “I’m sorry, I guess we won’t reach him this afternoon.”  
The detective shook his head and started to pace the small floor. “You think, he and Willow finally…?”

Buffy blushed. „Yeah. I mean, I set him straight this morning. And since Willow’s phone is off, too, I guess, it worked. But now I wish they would have chosen another day to make with the smoochies, damn!”  


Despite the situation at hand, Nick had to laugh. “Well, to be fair, you didn’t know. And I should have told you earlier about the election scandal.”  
“Naa,” Buffy waved her hand, “we knew about the orange guy and his ridiculous ambitions – it just never entered our minds that people would actually vote for him.”  
“In fact, Sandra got about 2 million more votes than Dump. So, if it was up to the people, she would be president. But our electoral system is so outdated that the electors have the final say.”  


“Stupid electors,“ Buffy grumbled. “This sucks. Our system sucks!”  
“True. But now we all have to deal with the results. And I need the nerdiness and genius of your two friends.”  
“I’ll get them. Just … Let’s give them at least another hour. I highly doubt that they’d be very useful to you otherwise.”

Buffy was right. Willow and Rupert had other things on their minds than the escalating craziness of the world. But the world needed them.


End file.
